Movies watched this past weekend

We always have a moving going at the house. A few of our "regular" favorites have been added to the Apple TV for easy portability and so forth but we also have Netflix and will watch new movies. Weather at the beach this past weekend was cold and windy, perfect for watching a movie or three. Aside from the regulars we watched here is a list of "other" movies we squeezed in:


The Quiet Earth

This was an odd one! An indy movie out of Australia about a man who wakes and find himself the only person left on Earth. Or are there more? There are some great scenes in this movie. One especially comes to mind of the movie's lead character destroying a gas station with a gigantic piece of heavy machinery. Why? Heck, why not? He was probably bored!

Before you watch this movie with the kids I should note there is a bit of nudity both female and full-frontal male. Great stuff for the sci-fi fan.

*** 1/2 out of *****



No County for Old Men

This movie was just shy of perfect. There Will Be Blood must be perfect if that movie beat this one for Best Picture of the Year. I'll find that out when I get to see Blood in the coming months. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I love Coen Brothers movies. Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona, you name it, I probably love it (with the notable exception of O Brother Where Art Thou, it seems that everyone except me loved that movie).

No Country represents the Coen Brothers at the height of their creative potential. Everything about this movie clicks. The writing is exceptional and the production aspects are spot-on. The cast delivers as well. Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root and Kelly Macdonald all swung for the fences in their performances and all delivered.

I can't say enough positives about this movie. I'm going to purchase the DVD and add this movie to my Apple TV as a new "regular". It's that good. I don't think I'll tire of this movie like I would so many others.

Good job to everyone involved with this movie and especially Joel and Ethan Coen. A great job indeed. One "it probably is only interesting to me" note about this movie was the desert scenes were filmed on a giant Texas ranch where There Will Be Blood was also filmed.

*UPDATE*

I neglected to mention this movie was also filmed in part in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The 1969 iconic movie Easy Rider was also shot in part in Las Vegas, New Mexico (Wyatt and Capt. America are thrown in jail in Las Vegas, NM after "parading without a license". They also meet Jack Nicholson there as well).

**** 3/4 out of *****


The Fantastic Four

This movie was an absolute crap fest beginning to end. Who green lighted this train wreck? Even Jessica Alba couldn't save this movie, and I would happily watch her do her nails or read a phone book aloud for 90 minutes. This movie had potential but it just fell apart, all the way apart somewhere along the way.

One bright spot was casting Michael Chiklis as The Thing. He played a great human that would become The Thing. That said, when The Thing was actually on the screen he somehow looked "squatty". I thought as The Thing he'd be taller. Granted Michael Chiklis is just short of 5' 9" so he's not a skyscraper but if the thing could grow sideways would he not grow taller as well? Maybe I was fed too much 5' 9" Bill Bixby turning into 6' 5" Lou Ferrigno during my younger years. I suppose The Thing could just grow exponentially in size in every direction except height. Heck, Barry Bonds did.

1/2 out of *****