Round 'Em Up...

A few movies over the past week.

Doing Time on Maple Drive. D'ya remember this one? It was a TV movie from the late 80's...one of Jim Carrey's early dramatic roles. It follows a severely dysfunctional family and the week when all of their secrets come out. Amazing performances all around; including Carrey (as a drunk military school dropout), the hot William McNamara (as an engaged-to-a-woman-closeted homo), Lori Loughlin (the Full House alum in a fantastic supporting performance--who knew?) and the great Bibi Besch (as the completely in denial matriarch). I've seen this movie before, and it truly holds up. Pretty racy stuff for the late 80's, but the film belongs to the performers. Watch this if you can find it, and pay attention to Besch's physical stature in the big blow out. This woman's awesome! Why doesn't she come into my store? It's been a week of Besch for me. Saw her in Tremors on the tube, and in an episode of The Golden Girls. It's a sign.

The Hills Have Eyes 2. The remake sequel. Violent, gross and completely pointless. Two good points. The lead actor (character was Napoleon) was cute, and the first moment when the "rock" mutant shows up, was cool. I'm really tired of stupid characters in stupid movies, insisting on doing stupid things. Case in point. How many more times do we have to see characters with the absolute need to carry their dead or dying compadres with them, when we all know it will slow them down? Would anyone in the real world do this? I ain't talking about Forrest Gump here. Jesus. FYI, I actually enjoyed the original and the remake. What was this total load of crap?!

The Ruins. Who knew this was gonna be so good? The performances sold this piece. I understood that this was a plant attacks man piece, and frankly, with The Happening still fresh in my gag reflex, I wasn't too excited. Jena Malone is amazing. In fact, the core cast of four made me very happy. It was nice to see characters (and the actors playing them) react to some pretty weird shit, with what I found to be very believable emotions and actions. This had a bit of The Descent, and the whole opening made me think of Open Water. And let's face it, a snippet of Little Shop of Horrors. Suppertime! Anyway, this was a real treat, and I recommend it to all within the sound of my typing. A great time, with awesome performances. Have I said that enough? Awesome performances!

Blindness. We wrapped this up just a few moments ago, and I can't really explain how I feel on this one. I was riveted for the entire two-plus hours, so that tells me something. Julianne Moore (shockingly--she's just usually SO bad--NOT!) was a gem. The places this woman goes w/ her career! She's so fabulous. Mark Ruffalo; after Zodiac and this particularly, is really starting to grow on me. This movie was a Mad Max flick, a zombie film, a Linda Blair prison rape movie. It had it all, and I think it worked on all levels. I was very interested to keep watching. I so needed to know where it was going. The visuals and lighting were fantastic. I have a headache after watching this (in a good way, and I have been sick w/ sinus issues today, so that accounts for some of it). All right. No more pussy-footing around. I'm going to go out there and say it. This movie blew my mind. There. I don't know what to say, other than, give this is a chance. It's pretty heavy, but well worth your time.

Wall-E. Yes, it lived up to the hype. Yes, it was the usual manipulative Disney epic (they do it so well, don't they?) Yes, I insist on making a stuffed Wall-E toy a part of my collection. The cockroach companion was a highlight, as was the sniffle-inducing recap on Eve's security camera; when she realizes what Wall-E did for her while she was shut down. Wonderful, tissue stock raising time. One problem. I had a hard time buying the idea of a bunch of lazy Americans (excuse me--Earthlings) relying on technology to sustain them in every possible way, and doing nothing at all for themselves. Why...why, that's just crazy.