Something About Movies

My brother Eric knows very little about baseball. Today, he wrote about baseball on his blog. He then told me that because he wrote about baseball, I needed to write about movies. It just so happens that the last five movies I have seen in the theater were all excellent, and I have been meaning to recommend them anyway. So here goes, in order of when I saw them:

• Music and Lyrics. Yes, a movie that came out in February IS one of the five most recent movies I have seen in the theater. What’s it to you? I think I like Hugh Grant in everything he has ever been in, and Drew Barrymore is right up there too. This movie is funny and sweet, and the music is awesome.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, but I have only seen each of the movies once, because I like to let my imagination dictate things when I read the books. Now that the books are done, I will probably watch the movies more. I thought this movie was great, and while it cut out A LOT of the book, I think that was a wise choice. Every change they made, with the exception of one, either made the story better for movie format or at least didn’t hurt it. Great flick.
• Hairspray. It is not often that I see a movie and it immediately becomes one of my favorites of all time, but this one did. I am a sucker for musicals anyway (both Moulin Rouge and Chicago are near the top of my list, along with classics like The Music Man and Bye Bye Birdie), and this one was just awesome. I listen to the soundtrack often, and I can’t wait to see the movie again. Everything about it was wonderful.
• The Bourne Ultimatum. I call this “The Boring Old Tomato,” but only because of the way the name sounds. The movie itself was anything but boring. I have loved this entire series, and I think the comparisons my brother makes between Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer are appropriate. People have complained about the shakiness of the camera, but I didn’t even notice it. (And in the second movie, when I DID notice it, I thought it was a plus, not a minus.) I saw this the night after I saw Hairspray, and I felt like I was really on a roll.
• Stardust. We just saw this one a week or two ago, and WOW! It just blew me away. I have definitely never had two movies in a month make my favorites list, but this and Hairspray sure did. I don’t think the trailer did the movie justice, because I had no desire to see it based on the trailer. Beth wanted to see it, though, so we did, and I think it was amazing. It was funny and clever, very sweet, and just great all around. I can’t decide if I liked it or Hairspray more, because they are so different, but I love them both.

There you have it: everything I know about movies. See you in three years, when I have seen five more movies.