Movies
Recently seen:
Return of the Pink Panther. My son and I are going back and seeing the series. This I think is #3, after the Pink Panther, and Shot in the Dark. Funnier than #4, Revenge of the PP, and maybe the funniest of them all. Old, classic stuff can be so funny. A cigarette lighter that looks exactly like a revolver. Inspector Dreyfuss shows it off, reassures his subordinate that the gun is safely away, somehow switches them, shoots himself in the face. Soon he is trying to kill Clouseau. Click, click, click. Is it the lighter or the gun? Clouseau helpfully suggests some butane, or a flint. After Clouseau leaves, bang, shoots himself again. Later reassures subordinate--it's the lighter--shoots him. At least once more trying to shoot Clouseau: lighter works perfectly. There's also a pretty good "tearing up the apartment with Kato."
I was trying to interest my son in some Buster Keaton recently, but I don't think I succeeded. This documentary comes on TV every so often--Buster is getting old, but he's making a movie in which he drives a pump car along a railway track. He fusses over every detail. If he is up on a bridge, where there is a high wind, and he chooses that time to get out a huge map, the white map becomes a sail...
In another scene he goes into a tunnel. I think he somehow makes a noise like a locomotive or something, so as he comes out, he sends a construction crew running.
The Aviator. A while ago now. A big focus on Hughes' mental illness, while showing he had real accomplishments as an entrepreneur before he went crazy.
National Treasure. I don't know, it doesn't leave much of an impression. Back and forth between the modern world, stores and streets, maybe a chase; and exploring deep underground, Indiana Jones-style. A kind of caper involving the Smithsonian in the middle.
Ocean's Twelve: not as good as Eleven.
Meet the Fockers. Definitely better than Meet the Parents. You can really see the contrast between the uptight WASP parents (DeNiro and Danner) and the Jewish parents (Streisand and Hoffman).
The Incredibles: I think I got it for my birthday. Really quite good. Holly Hunter's voice gets to me.
Hitch. Really not very funny. Will Smith is listed as one of the producers, as well as star. I'm guessing he had a lot of creative control, and he now thinks he can write, direct, produce, everything. Maybe not. Only memory of the movie: Kevin James moves very well for a big man.
Spanglish. I have a feeling I saw the best parts in previews. Is it really plausible that people who live in California speak not one word of each other's language--English and Spanish, respectively? And even in the course of the movie they are very slow to learn even one word at a time, the better to draw out the suspense of the scenes where translation is necessary? I was ready to tear my hair out. But: old-fashioned lesson about being a good person, living up to your responsibilities, I guess so.
Serpico. An oldie my wife bought. It gets kind of weird. He has so much integrity, he can't even commit to a girlfriend! That's how serious he is about his job! Yet soon after, he gave up his career altogether. You get a feeling he could take up and then put down almost any cause, always as a fanatic.
Thinking about seeing some:
Bewitched. At first I thought this is just nuts. But the previews look good. Now the reviews are mixed.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I gather it has some humour similar to War of the Roses.
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