The Seventh Seal

Antonius Block is my new hero.

I finally had the chance to sit down and enjoy Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” yesterday, and I cannot say enough good things about this film. It was funny and dramatic, full of action and horror and some of the most superb acting I’ve seen in a while.

The premise of this masterpiece is a man (Max von Sydow) who meets Death (Bengt Ekerot- who was SUPERB). Death tells the man that it is his time. The man, the aforementioned Antonius Block, challenges Death to a game of chess, and as long as he’s alive on the board, he will stay alive on earth. As far as I can see, he wants to stay alive just long enough to discover whether God exists.

There are subtle pieces of this movie that renowned filmmakers have used as a sort of tribute to Bergman, from what I picked up. A couple of examples that I caught:

*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: They have to play “wizard’s chess” to survive
and
*Monty Python and the Holy Grail: The monks singing while walking in procession

I’m sure there are many many more. I want to watch this movie again. I loved the scene with Lisa telling her husband to kill her lover, the lover faking his death, Death chopping down the tree…. I was laughing at the irony of it all. Even though it was such a solemn premise, the subtle humor was wonderful.

Another great character, in my opinion, was Jons with his cynical view on women, love, and his all too grim outlook on life. He made me laugh aloud more than once.


“You with your visions….”

Team America: World Police

This movie had some very funny parts. Some others were way over the top. Other parts were just not funny at all.

One thing about Parker and Stone is that they're never afraid to push the envelope. Especially when it comes to bodily functions (piss, shit and puke to the extreme: Not what I wanted to see.)

I can see how the younger crowd could really appreciate this movie, and I don't know how I can say I expected substance from the creators of South Park, but somehow I did. Not so much substance as plot, comedy, and mindless laughter. The most I got was the well- driven point that no, we aren't extremely desensitized to things that are over the top.

And now I'm at a loss for words.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Well, as Bridget Jones's Diary is one of my favorite movies, unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in this sequel for the following reasons:

1. It is NOTHING like the book. The book is fun and funny and romantic, but the movie was nothing like it. You do NOT find out the explosive truth about Uncle Jeffrey, and in the book Daniel Cleaver is hardly mentioned. It was NOT the real story.
2. It tried way too hard to be like the 1st one and that turned it into cheese.

This movie could have been so much more but it just... wasn't. A simple regurgitation of it's prequel, it fell far short of it's potential. One of the best parts of the book is when Bridget returns from Thailand and Tom says to her over the phone (before even seeing her) "Bridget! You're so thin!!!!!!!"

*One of the biggest plot portions of the book is the part about the hole in the wall and Bridget's stalker. This is not used.
*In the book, Jude was supposed to marry "Vile Richard" but he is never mentioned in this film. It seemed more like they wanted some people to think that Jude was with Tom the Poof.
*Obviously, Shazzer and Bridget go to Thailand ALONE, not with Cleaver. And, of course, the scene where Tom, Jude, and Shazzer tell Bridget "The Truth" about Mark Darcy, I wanted to vomit. Are we paying these people to act or read off of cue cards?
*Mrs. Darcy was recast.
*In the film, nothing is mentioned about Bridget's new job as a writer.
*One thing that they did in the 1st movie that is a big part of Bridget's personality is focus a bit on her obsession with smoking, drinking, and misery eating/ comfort foods, and how these attributed to her weight "problem". In this film, they talked about her weight but did not show it in the same light. As far as the smoking, they only stated that she was doing it behind Mark's back, and I don't think she was drunk once the entire movie. And if there's anything we know Bridget for, it's her fondness for "the drink."

It's sad how they screwed it up.

Had I not read the book, I may have enjoyed it a bit more, but I doubt it. There were some good parts, and I maintain that I cannot be more like Bridget if I tried, but the BIG (no pun intended) problem with this film is that it was supposed to take place a mere 6 weeks after the end of the last and it looked like she had gained 40 pounds in the 6 weeks. She looked like she had gained MUCH more weight than she needed to. I attribute it to the press saying that in the 1st film she wasn't fat at all and that she "made the larger woman feel bad about herself"- but I disagree with them. Not only was Bridget the perfect size in #1, but she was inspiring. They made her go overboard in #2 and it fell short of the Bridget we all have come to know and love.

Overall: QUITE disappointing. Well, skinny Renee, have fun with your new hubby- We don't want any more Bridget if this is the way Studio Canal/Working Title/ Universal is going to make you portray her.

I'm addicted...

... to premium channel original TV.

For the past 4 or 5 weeks or so, I have been watching every episode of The Sopranos. I had watched the first 4 episodes a few years ago but it didn't really interest me. Now I'm watching them again and they are really good. I have about 9 more episodes left in season 4 and season 5 comes out in a couple of weeks.

Tuesday, the 3rd season of Six Feet Under comes out.

I am always happy to watch Sex and the City re-runs. I have seen every episode of that show as well as every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

I need to watch seasons 2 and 3 of Queer as Folk- Season 1 was great.

I have never seen Deadwood or Oz but they are definitely on my list.

So since I haven't posted in a while, I figured I'd let you all know why. I really haven't watched many movies at all.