Movie Chat!

So it's a boring title. Sue me. Or don't. Please don't. While on vacation last week, I got a chance to see a few movies on DVD I hadn't seen yet, so here's some quick thoughts.

The DaVinci Code - As a friend of mine said 'It's two and a half hours of Tom Hanks being confused.' Not a bad movie, but nothing special. I don't know whether reading the book hurt or helped the experience, because the most intersting part of the book for me was the historical parts about the Catholic Church, and I'm not even sure how much of it was factual. The whole "child of Christ" thing? Yawn.

Lucky Number Slevin - Kind of a funny movie. Morgan Freeman's in it, which improves the movie by 28% automatically, and his calm demeanor feels right for a crime boss. Not a particularly surprising movie, but the plan as a whole was pulled off well, and Bruce Willis' 'I'm a world-class assassin fuckhead. How do you think I found out?' made me laugh. Probably the movie I enjoyed most.

Lady in the Water - I'm not sure what M. Night was going for here, but it felt like he made it up as he went along. The longer it went, the more things that were important to know that kept popping up, like they were just being thrown in there to prolong the film. Like Peter Jackson's King Kong, a film that makes me feel the time would have been better spent sleeping.

The Descent - For a "group of people on trip, start dying horrifically" movie, pretty good. Nice use of lighting, very atmospheric. The ending was kind of weird. Not really sure where that was going, but up until then it was pretty damn good.

Rest Stop - Ugh. Just mediocre, if that. Nope, changed my mind. It blew. I'm really not a fan of those slasher flicks where the killer seems omnipotent, always ten steps ahead of the victim, so seemingly nothing they do to escape can work. Yes, he's been at it a long time, but there's always an element of uncertainty when dealing with people. We're random like that. Plus, the parts with the vanishing bleeding victim locked in the storage room, and the magically disappearing cop, what was up with that? Yes, she was freaking out, but it just seemed pointless to make us think that she was hallucinating. And what was the deal with the Winnebago people? Totally pointless.

All The King's Men - This was my dad's choice. I vaguely remember the book from 11th grade, and thinking that it was alright, but apparently the movie diverges widely from the book, and in dad's opinion, didn't properly capture the subtlety and the message of the book. Me? I was just bored.

The Constant Gardner - Based on a John le Carre novel. I've read one of his books, not this one. It was OK, but I had a hard time keeping names straight through it. Not quite as big a deal here, though I couldn't help feeling while watching the movie that Justin was busting his ass to discover the truth about the death of a woman who just didn't care that much about him. It really felt like she had used him, and the fact he did like her to get to Africa so she could continue her work. Still, it seemed to get it's message across without being overly preachy about the plight of people in Africa. It was good, but not something I'd watch for fun if it came on TNT.