New year, new movies, new posts…
Movie #1: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011, with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy)
Wow. All I can say is Wow. You take some of the biggest names in British acting, couple them with fantastic dialogue, set the whole thing in a colorful, exotic country, and you have one fantastic movie. If you are not into dry British wit, then you’ll miss most of the humor in this movie; however, if you love that type of scripting, you need—no, you MUST watch this movie. It’s poignant. It’s irreverent. It’s optimistic. It’s life—with all the ups, the downs, the hopes, the fears, the grit and the sublime. It shows that life, with all its possibilities, doesn’t have to end just because you’re “old”. Seeing these characters move to India and how they deal with adjusting to a new culture (positively and negatively) is fascinating. You also see the contrast between the traditional culture and mindset of India and the changing attitudes of modern Indian youth. It’s just fabulous and the one-liners are hysterical.
What we loved: EVERYTHING.
Favorite line: “In India, we have a saying….it will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it’s not the end.”
Ratings: 5s all around, hands-down.
Movie #2: Frankenweenie (2012, Tim Burton, with Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short)
Well, it’s another true-blue Tim Burton classic. You see elements of Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride in this. Or at least I did. Here’s the basic storyline: Boy meets dog. Boy loves dog. Dog dies. Boy resurrects dog. Chaos ensues. It’s kind of like Pet Semetary in cartoon-form. It’s a really cute movie and lives up to the Tim Burton “brand”. He works in glimpses of some of the classic Frankenstein movies in this, which is fantastic.
What we loved: The names of the pets in the cemetery. You have to read the tombstones. And--the homage to Godzilla. You'll know it when you see it.
What creeped us out: The damn cat! Mr. Whiskers. Psycho kitty, man. Psycho. Kitty.
Ratings: Jason 4; Kathy 3; Me 3.5
Shout-out to our local independent video store—East Coast Music & Video! They had The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for us this week. We had problems with an instant stream version of this movie, so we went old-school. Sometimes old school is just better, people. If you’re in the Greenville area, check out our guys at East Coast. Give ‘em some love.
