Groovymarlin.com

What’s with that title? What I mean is, these are reviews of  movies, that I see on cable; because I am a parent who doesn’t know any babysitters and therefore almost never goes to the movie theater anymore. I look back fondly on the days when I was single, and went every week, alone – sometimes twice a week! Or even after I got married, and we went a few times a month. No more. At least not until the kiddo gets older, I guess. So that means most of the movies I see nowadays are long after their theatrical release, and therefore “way too late.” Although I suppose you could use my opinion (if it matters) to help build your Netflix queue.

(By the way, these might be considered slightly spoiler-y. Nothing major.)

Lars and the Real Girl (2007): Not what I expected. Remember when that company first started selling “Real Dolls,” realistic sex dolls that weigh something like 100 pounds and cost thousands of dollars? (I vividly remember when one was delivered to Howard Stern’s studio, they showed it on the E! show.) The titular character orders a similar doll, and treats it like it’s a real person. Sounds pervy, no? But actually, Lars seems to be operating under the delusion that “Bianca” is real. To support him, his family goes along with it, along with his doctor, his co-workers, and eventually the whole community. Actually a very touching film – there’s nothing overtly sexual about Lars’s relationship with the doll, and the lengths his friends and family go to in order to protect his feelings are surprisingly sweet. Strong performances by Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, and Paul Schneider. “Thumbs up.”

Iron Man (2008): Yep, I just saw this On Demand. How pathetic am I, that I didn’t even manage to get to the theater to see one of last summer’s biggest blockbusters? Oh well. I’d heard it was good, and I really like Robert Downey Jr., so I had high expectations for this and I wasn’t disappointed. A very good movie for the genre. Yes, there are ridiculous leaps of faith and logic and you have to be willing to suspend disbelief. But if you couldn’t handle that, you wouldn’t be watching a superhero movie, right? Anyway, Downey is great, and Gwyneth Paltrow was pretty good too, though she really wasn’t in it as much as I thought she’d be. Jeff Bridges is a caricature of evil as the villain, and overacts accordingly. I thought the weak link in many ways was Terrence Howard as Tony Stark’s friend, Rhodey, who just happens to be a military mucky-muck with the ability to call off national defense at will, but whatever. Overall a pretty good way to entertain yourself for two hours, and that suit is just too freaking cool. “Thumbs up.”

Howards End (1992): This is a cheat, because I’ve seen this movie at least a dozen times. I LOVE IT. It was recently running on some of our cable channels again and I saw it a few more times. Terrific movie, outstanding cast, beautifully shot, etc. I’ve recently been reading the book and find that the film is a very nice adaptation – perfectly tightened up but faithful to the source material. If you have never seen this YOU MUST. “Thumbs WAY up.”

WALL-E (2008): I resisted watching this for a while but finally gave in. For some reason I thought the biting but subtle commentary on consumerism would make me depressed, but the film is ultimately uplifting and the imagery is gorgeous. Best part: we can watch this on the big TV and my daughter doesn’t complain, because she loves it too (especially EVE). One day she started talking about “Wally,” all kinds of Wally this and Wally that, and I was thinking “Who the heck is Wally? There’s not a kid at school named Wally.” Then it finally dawned on me that she was talking about WALL-E. Der. “Thumbs up.”

I tried hard to think of something I’ve watched recently that I didn’t like, and I couldn’t come up with anything. The thing is, I don’t watch a lot of TV or movies. The last time I really spent a lot of time watching movies and DVDs was earlier this year, when I hurt my back and I couldn’t sit up or walk, so I was laying down a lot with plenty of time on my hands. Otherwise, I watch a movie here and there when I can’t sleep or I’m tired of staring at my computer. I’m also finding that anymore, if I don’t like something, I just turn it off. Problem solved!