Long time coming....

So, I originally started this post on Saturday, July 19, at about 5:55am. Just didn't have a chance to finish the last review. Here it is, all edited and complete:

Title: Too excited to sleep!!

We're going to see The Dark Knight at 9am today!! I got up at 5:10, tossed and turned for 20 minutes, took a shower and checked some email... now it's time for some blogging. Can't believe Sam is still sleeping!!

Soooo... what to talk about? Maybe some other movies we've seen since getting back from P.E.I. (more on that trip later... maybe... I make no guarantees).

This summer has been pretty good for us movie-wise. I feel like I'm starting in the middle - these are all July movies - but that's okay. If you want more in depth (read: better) reviews from semi-professionals see the ones by Ryan and Andy for Wall-E, Hancock and Hellboy II, respectively. Side note: I haven't read these particular reviews, but Sam has talked to me about the guys' overall feelings about these movies.

I'll try not to spoil things, but I make no guarantees; read at your own risk.

Wall-E - Technically we saw this movie ON our trip, not after, but I'm including it anyway. My sister and brother-in-law took us to a very cool theater for dinner and the movie - at the same time! Fun. They had Lincoln Towncar (?) leather chairs for the seats - reclining was fun - and diner/drive-in style food for the eating. I pretty much pigged out on hot wings and fries. On to the movie...
This movie was so cute! It was more thought out and had a deeper message than I expected. It was kind of a kinder, gentler, more subtle Inconvenient Truth with a touch of Short Circuit - if Short Circuit was a romance. My sister like the existential aspect of it.
There's more I'd like to say, but I promised I'd try not to give too much away; I really liked seeing this movie without knowing the overarching plot.
Not my favorite Disney or Pixar movie, but I highly recommend it to adults and children alike. (A-)

Hancock - My opinon of this movie has been on a rollercoaster ride ever since we saw the first preview: wanted to see it, didn't want to see it, thought it looked lame, thought it looked cool, went to see it, loved it while watching the beginning, was impressed with the originality, loved the characters, thought it was becoming predictable, liked the ending, didn't love the overall movie as much as I thought I would when it started, keep changing my mind whenever I talk about the movie to someone. Whew! Thanks for reminiscing about that ride with me. (I know, I know, I forced you into it... whatever.)
So, how do I feel about it now, just over a week later after seeing Hellboy II and Mama Mia!? I still really like it. Can't say I'll rush out and buy the DVD the day it comes out, but it will probably make its way into our collection at some point. (B)

Hellboy II - We saw this movie the day after seeing Hancock. A review I read before seeing the movie called it "Red's Labyrinth."
I was very excited to see this movie and I wasn't disappointed at all. I liked it much better than the first movie, which I only saw on DVD recently.
I agree with the seemingly prevailing view that this movie had an abundance of "creatures." However, I don't think it was a bad thing. I thought they were great enhancements to a growing mythology that we're learning about a world that includes Hellboy, a "demon" raised by a human to protect humanity from other demons, and his friends: Abe, a fish-guy, and Liz, a human torch. I thought Guillermo del Toro's menagerie had a fantastic mythical quality reminiscent of Tolkien. Each creature seemed to have a rich back story (like the characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy or even in the Harry Potter series do) that made them make sense (whether we learned the back story or not) and that added to the movie as a whole. The creatures didn't seem arbitrary like some of the characters in the Star Wars series.
What I really missed was more depth from the main characters. Maybe because it was a sequel, the makers didn't feel the need to develop personalities and relationships that transcended the visual spectacle of the movie. I thought the main actors had much better characters to play the first time around. In this movie they seemed quite shallow and flat.
Overall, I do recommend the movie. It was an entertaining summer blockbuster-type movie. I think it melded the comic book genre and the fantasy genre in a pleasing way for a fan of both (me). However, I'm not a fanatic about either, so I may be off-base if someone is a die-hard fan of either. (B+)

Mamma Mia! - We got to see a pre-screening of this movie on Tuesday, for free! Gotta love a free movie!
So, we saw this movie with my cousin who is an ABBA fan. I enjoy their music, but I think she knew quite a few more of the songs than I do. Also, none of us has seen the stage musical.
It was very fun to see this movie in a full theater. I assumed most people were fans and didn't feel the need to squelch my desire to laugh-out-loud, clap, cheer and sing along. The story was interesting and well-paced.
As for the actors/singers, some were great, others not so (at least to me). I think there was some overacting, as there tends to be in musicals. Meryl Streep started out seeming manic and insincere, but got better over the course of the movie -- or I just got used to her character. I really liked her last solo. I thought Colin Firth would have been a better choice to play Pierce Brosnan's character, but he (Firth) probably enjoyed his role much more. Firth was wonderful, as always (I might be a little biased). Brosnan is not a singer, btw. The lead girl was much better than I expected. Her friends were cute and funny - would have liked to see them more. Streep's friends were definitely a hit! They were very funny and sang their songs well.
I really enjoy musicals and I like the story of this one, the execution wasn't up to the standards of musicals I love, though. Overall, it was a bit of summertime fun. As Sam said to me as we were leaving the theater, "how can anyone _not_ like this movie?" (B+)

** end of intended original post **

So, I guess I've really enjoyed the movies I've seen so far this summer. I also really enjoyed The Dark Knight. I think that one was the best of the summer. I cried a lot and it has stayed with me over the past week - I think about it off and on. Maybe we will see it again. The IMAX theater we saw it in wasn't the best, but we got good seats. I didn't really notice the jumps from the parts shot in IMAX and the parts shot in regular film - only conciously noticed one time for each frame size (the opening = IMAX, looked down over people's heads, and then at some point when people were talking I noticed that the movie didn't go down that far).

Well, I guess I've rambled on long enough... But I figure it's okay since I haven't posted in months...

see ya!

Update for Raiz

Hollah! Raiz, sorry for not updating sooner. Thanks for goading me into it.

So, I know my poll was a long time ago, but I've finally taken your advice and changed my blog colors. It was very, very pink. I am testing out these shades of blue and hope they work better for the blog. Let me know what you think!

Happy spring forward day!