What I've Watched: Movie Madness

It was a movie-filled weekend for me. Luke was in town, needing the escape from Lexington. The weather was pretty crummy this weekend (and for the last month, as well), so after grubbing down a burger and a few beers we went and checked out a movie. Then Sunday night the goddess divine and I decided to bust through two quick movies. In all, it was a 3-for-3 experience. All three were solid.

Star Trek
I have never claimed to be the biggest Trek fan. When I interned at the St. Pete Times, the copy desk folk as a parting gift gave me a Mugato doll after one morning we had an epic Trek discussion in which I ridiculed for 20 minutes how classic the Mugato's costume was (pretty much a gorilla outfit spray-painted white with a horn duct taped to the head). But I never watched the TV series all that much, and I never saw a single episode of any spinoff.

I can say that I learned a lot of my Trek knowledge from two of the greatest documentaries ever created, Trekkies and Trekkies 2. I cannot overstate enough how fantastic these are. Must-sees for anyone who enjoys comedy and people who admit way too much about their lives.

To the new Trek movie, Luke, Dan and I were pleasantly surprised by how good this reboot was. I have never been a fan of anything JJ Abrams has done, but he handled this material quite well. The action is edited a little too hectically. And the plot devices are a bit of a stretch. But the dialogue has classic quips from the characters and everything just came together in a tight package that was well worth the $11 we shelled out for a matinee show (yeah, thanks for that matinee discount ... what a ripoff). So check this movie out if you want a welcome introduction to summer blockbusters.

Doubt
Whew, a tad of a heady flick here. No explosions here. No fancy CGI. Just some quality performances from some of the best actors in the busineess. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Viola Davis. Just a crazy good cast. Superb dialogue. Solid camera work and working script to let these people do what they do best. The pacing is just right and I was riveted, even if the story is bleak and the resolution left purposefully opaque.

As a child of Catholic schools and the current era of priests doing bad and the church having to pay off truckloads of money to make amends (guess those novenas weren't enough for forgiveness), this movie does touch a nerve and mean a little something more to me, even if it is set in 1964. Again, not the most uplifting film, but if you want to see a damn fine film, you should put this on your list.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
In the era of Superbad and Juno, this movie initially didn't appeal to me. Figured it was too much in the wheelhouse of the crap my sister likes, but the wife was complaining about me picking too many depressing movies so I had to lighten it up every once and awhile. And she's got a innocent but funny crush on Michael Cera, so it was an easy pick.

I gotta say ... not a bad movie. Not winning an Oscar. Not winning a Golden Globe. Hell, probably getting shut out in the MTV Movie Awards, which pretty go to anyone named Michael and Cera. This does not diminish how fun the movie is to watch. It's got some interesting characters, and while they say typical stuff, it's nice that they are not entirely stereotypical. The big draw (given it's title) is the music incorporated into the film. Most of it is teenage pop stuff, but there are some nice tracks thrown in to boot (plus a solid track from one of my favorite bands, The National).

This movie may divide viewers, as some may hate it while others love it. Me, I thought it was pretty good. It has at least reached the tier of movies that if nothing else is on cable, I can watch it without completely ignoring it.