5/7/09

Four quickies!

Well after I loaded all the pictures for the four movies we have watched this past week, I chuckled and thought 'wow, nobody can accuse of us of not being diverse'!!

You can't beat a bit of Morgan Freeman, and The Contract is a thriller that we overlooked when it came out. Co-starring John Cusack, it tells the story of a father and son heading out to bond on a camping trip, only to find themselves hotly pursued by hitmen! Why, well they have taken Freeman into custody after he escapes on his way to prison and are intent on taking him back to justice. But Freeman is a mercenary hitman and his team are determined to track them down before the FBI, and rescue him.

We really enjoyed this fast moving thriller, the acting is good, the scenery stunning and the story plausible. We would both definitely recommend this movie, it will hold your attention from the outset.

Bride Wars is an entertaining chick-flick bit of fluff. Starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as life long bestfriends, with the same dream to marry at The Plaza in NYC in June. The problems start when their wedding planner, brilliantly played by Candice Bergan, screws up their dates and one has to give up the dream. Well neither of them is budging, so their weddings are planned for the same day and time, splitting friends and family down the middle. As the big day draws closer, the arch rivals resort to ever worsening desperately destructive tactics, with some laugh out loud moments as a result.

This is not a taxing movie, but it even made the hubster laugh out loud a few times. It's entertaining, has a nice angle on friendship and the things it has to overcome and both actresses are naturally funny. So if you need a fun bit of escapism, with wedding fever thrown in, then give this a try.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is not a movie to watch if your having an 'ugly' or 'fat & frumpy' week, it'll just depress you further! It is full of the creme of Hollywood beauties, with Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem for us ladies. It tells the story of two friend's summer spent in Barcelona, and their closely intertwined relationship with Javier and his crazy ex-wife Penelope. It is a stunningly beautiful movie to look at, reminding me of the classic Merchant Ivory films of the nineties which were just cinematically lush. We loved the narrated style of the story, making it easy to follow and the acting was excellent.

Neither of us are Woody Allen fans, but this is Woody at his most commercially accessible and we enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed it more than the hubster, but it is a movie all about complicated lover relationships and that's often more of a female thing. But this is not a chick flick, as it is subtler and more intelligent. I would give this a good 4 stars, I think the hubster was about 2.5!

Transformers was a loaner from a colleague at work and I have to say we were both extremely dubious, having thought it was a kids film. Well we were pleasantly surprised to find it was more of an action thriller, with a heavy military slant! It stars Shia Le Beouf (Indiana Jones 4) and Josh Duhamel (of Las Vegas and wife Fergie, fame) as they fight against an initially unknown enemy, with the help of the alien Transformers. The special effects in this movie are stunning and we were both pretty much transfixed without speaking for the whole movie. But then that might also have been because this was WITHOUT DOUBT the noisiest movie ever made in the history of the world!! It has one of those incredibly annoying soundtracks where they have the actors and the background noise/music on the same channel, a big pet peeve of ours.

But there was no denying it was entirely not what we expected it to be and very entertaining. I am glad we didn't see it in the cinema as we might have walked out due to deafness, but it's a great Friday night action movie for your sofa.

Overall none of these were bad, we enjoyed them all, but I think we would both recommend 'The Contract' as the best of the bunch.

9 comments:

Daryl said...

Josh Duhamel was also Leo on All My Children ..

Nice selection .. we have Vicky Christina Barcelona on hand for this weekend ... after my massage, acupuncture and beautification™

me said...

Loved the movie reviews. I am interested in seeing the Freeman movie. I have always thought of him as a great actor. Cusack is not bad at times either. The last movie I watched of his, "Martian Child", and it was an INCREdible movie. Very touching.

Sylvia K said...

Thanks for the reviews! now I know what to order from Netflix for the weekend! You came up just in time! Love Morgan Freeman and the others definitely look worth checking out! Have a great weekend! Looking forward to your Sky Watch pics!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

I've got to see Vicky Christina Barcelona. Love your reviews.

Peggy said...

I love Morgan freeman too, so this one is on my list for nest weeks netflix order. I saw transformers a couple of times, yes I liked it enough to see it twice. I was entertained for sure. I hear transformer's 2 is coming out soon. We' ll have to think about seeing that...not sure I'm up to another.
I love Penelope Crus, she is so beautiful! So I think that one I will put on my list too.
Thanks Sarah for some good ideas for next weekend!

Pam said...

There are a couple of these I would like to see. YOu've beenon a movie roll!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great reviews, we have only seen the Woody Allen flick and loved it. We'll put the others on our to watch list.

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence I should read your post today. Last night I was racking my brain trying to remember the name of this movie so I could rent it. Thanks! You've saved me a lot of effort!
But The Transformers? Really? it's that good?

Kay said...

Thank you very much for the movie reviews. I've seen The Contract and thought it was good, too. I'll keep my eyes open for Bride Wars when we get a chance. We've not watched many movies lately. I've got a lot of catching up to do.