S1M0NE — 60%

DVD viewed May 28, 2006. Interesting, but the satire falls a little too flat for me.

Murderball — 90%

DVD viewed May 27, 2006. One of the most entertaining documentaries I’ve seen. Highly recommended. The extra features are, well, of varying quality.

Derailed — 10%

DVD viewed May 26, 2006. A steaming pile of dung! Completely predictable. I was actually saying the lines before the characters. Hint, it’s a scam; she’s in on it. Oh, woops, spoiler alert. I rated this a 10% because I can imagine that somewhere there are worse movies. I don’t want to see them, though. Now if they wanted MST3K it, you might have something.

Shopgirl — 25%

DVD viewed May 24, 2006. Steve Martin’s fantasy life on screen. Jason Schwartzman’s nuttiness in the first act is the only redeeming quality of this film. Otherwise, really terrible.

Rumor Has It — 50%

DVD viewed May 21, 2006. Entertaining in parts. Not great.

Butterfly Effect — 80%

DVD viewed May 21, 2006. Thought provoking, but a GIANT FREAKING PLOT HOLE. In the end, are we supposed to believe that the world would have been better off if he’d never lived?!? Can’t we accept that our lives impact other lives, and others impact ours? Sometimes the impact is positive, sometimes negative.

Movie Trailer

New — or newly imagined — comedy, 10 Things I Hate About Commandments. View and enjoy the trailer at You Tube.

Warning: Contains F-bomb. You have been warned.

Cold Mountain – 50%

DVD viewed May 13, 2006. For each thing I liked about this movie (scenery, soundtrack, some of the performances), there was something I hated (editing, accents, some of the performances).

Office Space – 99%

DVD viewed May 12, 2006.

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.

Doesn’t life feel like this sometimes?

I Am Cool

Or at least I could be if I put 22+inch rims on my car and paint it lime green or four shades of pink. So says the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required—uncool!).

Some of the hippest wheels for under-30 drivers today are models commonly identified with seniors: Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Chevrolets and Cadillacs from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

. . .

There's also the cool factor of being so "out" you are "in."

And nobody knows cool like the WSJ, right?

Bookmarks

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine got me reading "The Bleat" by occasionally forwarding around a good quote from it. I don't read it everyday, but I skim it more often than not. Today's entry is an example of why I keep it among my bookmarks.

Layer Cake – 75%

DVD Viewed April 30, 2006. Everybody double-crossing everybody. Very good soundtrack. I love the ending; much better than the alternatives in the special features.

Fun with Dick and Jane – 60%

DVD viewed April 23, 2006. A few good laughs and some good physical comedy. The pacing was a bit slow at times and one of the funniest scenes is in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. For extra laughs, pay close attention to the first minute or so of the end credits.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — 80%

DVD viewed April 22, 2006. I listened to tapes of the original BBC radio broadcast when I was in college (very funny), and the movie stays true enough to the material to be similarly funny. Plus it was interesting to see the characters and some of the technology brought to life. No one who knows me will be surprised to find out that my favorite character is Marvin the Paranoid Android. In fact, if Mister Ginger was an android, he might be Marvin.

The Polar Express – 80%

DVD viewed April 19, 2006. Cute movie. Mister Ginger loves everything about Christmas. It may have gotten more than 80% if Mister Ginger had seen it at Christmas instead of just after Easter. Did I mention that I love everything about Christmas? Mister Ginger also likes Easter, although if he eats chocolate his face breaks out like he's 15 years old all over again.

The Interpreter – 70%

DVD viewed April 17, 2006. Not as bad as I expected, given that Sean Penn has a staring role. He proves, once again, that he is a master thespian. No matter what the part, he can still manage to come across as brooding. Seriously, though, the movie is entertaining and somewhat suspenseful, although a tad long (128 minutes). The DVD bonus features include director Sydney Pollack going off on a rant about pan and scan vs. widescreen, and everybody knows how much Mister Ginger enjoys a good rant. And I do prefer widescreen to pan and scan, just like Mister Pollack.

So, What's the Point?

One might ask, why are you, Mister Ginger, starting a blog? Well, one of the main reasons is that I want to keep a running list of the movies that I watch. I watch quite a few movies, so many, in fact, that I can't remember what I've seen and whether I liked what I've seen. People sometimes ask me about movies so I want to jot down a few notes. I'm sure there are other reasons that aren't coming to mind right now. I have a headache.