I figured that this movie would be sweet and sentimental, but I did not expect how adorable it would be. Based on a true story, We Bought A Zoo is about a journalist-adventurer named Benjamin Mee (played by Matt Damon) who wants to make a fresh start with his two kids, after the death of…
Category: Movies
Movie #41: The Debt
I set myself up for a Helen Mirren double-bill by watching this movie and The Tempest back to back. I had heard good things about The Debt but was hesitant to watch it in the theatres because it seemed to have that retro Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy vibe (and I hated that movie). Who knew…
Movie #40: The Tempest
I’ve been fascinated by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest ever since I first learned that this “olde tyme” playwright (that our teacher was making us read) had written a tale featuring spirits, spells and sorcery rather than his usual cast of English kings and queens. When director Julie Taymor’s version came to the screen featuring actress…
Movie #39: Rabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole seems like one of those hard-to-enjoy movies while you’re watching it; one that you may or may not appreciate by the end. Nicole Kidman gives an Oscar-nominated performance as Becca, the mother of a young boy who died in a car accident. Becca and her husband Howie (played by Aaron Eckhart) go through…
Movie #38: Shrek Forever After
I’m not quite sure why I watched this movie. I was a big fan of the original Shrek; I liked how it upended fairy tale conventions and made a monster into a hero. The satirical, contemporary jokes played really well in a storybook context. However, Shrek Forever After comes three whole movies later, after the…
Movie #37: Moneyball
First off, I am no sports fan (and sports movies are not high on my list either), but a friend suggested that Moneyball was good enough that I might enjoy it anyway — and he was right. Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, a former pro baseball player who became the general manager of the Oakland…
Movie #36: Burlesque
I was a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, so I was excited that maybe this was another movie like that. Moulin Rouge fans might appreciate the musical numbers, but Burlesque is not nearly as imaginative or interesting as the Nicole Kidman classic. This is largely a vanity project for Christina Aguilera (with a little…
Movie #35: The Double
I love a good, plot-twisty spy thriller. Sadly, The Double was poorly-scripted and poorly-planned. I was surprised to learn that Michael Brandt, the writer-director of this movie, also wrote the screenplay for Wanted, but then I remembered that the weakest part of that movie was the plot. In this movie, Richard Gere plays a retired…
Movie #34: Water For Elephants
Whenever the circus is used as a backdrop, it’s always a kind of magical place. I guess that was even more so during the Great Depression of the 1930s (when this movie is set). Everyone was struggling and life was harsh. People needed to escape to something more exotic and sensational. Water For Elephants captures…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 