Forgot to mention that over the last week I've had the chance to see a couple of movies.
As mentioned a week ago--before my trip to the hospital with Kim--we took the kids to see:
1) Sahara--based on a book by Clive Cussler, this story follows the adventures of former Navy Seal Dirk Pitt & his best buddy Al Giordano as they search for long lost treasures--ostensibly for the U.S. government. Pitt is played here by Matthew McConaghuey, looking suitably buffed and tanner than any white man has the right too. Its all total popcorn--but, its like Orville Redenbacher. Good popcorn.
Lots of action and good performances by William H Macy & Steve Zahn in supporting performances. Penelope Cruz plays the romantic interest.....and looking sort of out of place. Tons of fun though--and you'll forget it an hour after its over.
***
2) Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow---years ago, and I mean that literally, kids would go to the movie theatre on a Saturday afternoon and watch the movie serial. This was usually a fairly cheesy movie that would be shown over the course of maybe 12 weeks or so, one segment at a time. The budget for these films was probably not very much, so they compensated by doing all sort of (for the time) wild stunts involving car chases or motorcyles or something like that. The point is--the kids of that day were usually held spellbound by the stories, and would inevitably return week after week to see what happened within the story. The most famous example of a movie serial being turned into a recent action series is over course Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones series. All of this is what I was thinking about while I sat down and watched, truly mesmerized, by this amazing film. First and foremost, it may be the best LOOKING film I've ever seen. The movie has many different parts--but I believe it ends up being greater than the sum of those parts.
Its part film noir, part action film, part Wizard of Oz, part war film.....its almost hard to describe. The storyline--stay with me here---is set during the late 30's or early 40's. New York City is suddenly attacked by an army of gigantic robots (really!
ROBOTS!). The city is saved by the dashing Sky Captain (Jude Law) who rescues, and then is assisted (?) by scrappy girl reporter Polly Perkins (Gwenyth Paltrow, doing her best Rosalind Russell///Katherine Hepburn impression). Their investigation of where the robots come from and what it all means is the basis of the story. But really, its all about how great a movie can look. Besides the Wizard of Oz, I was reminded of the way I felt the first time I saw Blade Runner in the early 80's--again, introducing us to a world totally different than the one we know.
A truly fantastic fantasy adventure---one not to be missed. That this movie was denied some sort of Academy Award in the production design or costume catergories is not only amazing, but a crime. ***** MUST SEE!!!
Later,
Jeff
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