Movies for a Summer Day

I did books on Wednesday; now its time for some movies.

I'm not a big cinema-goer. I can't justify spending all that time on money unless it's something I desperately want to see. In the last two years, I can count on my fingers how many movies I've seen at the theaters (umm, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince--twice; New Moon; Remember Me; Up; Alice in Wonderland...and that might be all). But my Blockbuster queue is bursting with movies I want to see for the first time, the second time, or for the first time in a long time.

What I love about Blockbuster is that if I want a new movie, I don't have to wait for the postal service to return the one I have, for all of that to be processed, and a new one to be mailed. I can simply trade it in at the nearest store. This is helpful for movies like Alice in Wonderland. The wait online is very long, but I was able to snag it at the store yesterday when trading in one that had been mailed to me.

Oh, and yes, I love Tim Burton's version. Alice is an awesome heroine.

Last week, I was delighted to see that the ever-awesome Kevin Spacey (link goes to a post from England in 2005, after I met the man himself outside of The Old Vic Theatre) had a movie out that I hadn't heard of. But alas, Shrink ended up being superbly dull and self-inflated. I just couldn't get into it, and gave up after an hour. It's okay, Kev. We'll always have The Usual Suspects. Which I own and really need to watch again soon.

I'm determined to have a Harry Potter Marathon soon. The movies aren't perfect, but I love them and own each and every one of them on DVD. This particular marathon will need a whole day of being shut inside my apartment with the blinds drawn, popcorn popped, and the cell phone silenced.

I will hit the theater in a couple of weeks when Eclipse comes out. Oh, I know, the books are horribly cheesy, and so are the movies, but RPattz is gorgeous to look at and sometimes we all need some good, old-fashioined escapism.

I recently watched a wonderful BBC miniseries based on a book by Elizabeth Gaskell called Cranford. Any miniseries done by BBC is worth watching...but this one has Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton and a Who's Who of British actors list as long as my arm. Well-acted is an understatement. The story is good, too, and Elizabeth Gaskell also authored Wives and Daughters and North and South, both of which I own on DVD and will probably watch at some point in the next month.

Continuing on the British vein, I absolutely loved The Young Victoria, enough that I held onto my rented copy long enough to ensure that Mom got a chance to watch it, too. I'll probably end up buying it someday, as it's a lovely story and very well-acted. I rented Tess of the d'Urbervilles and found it to be terribly depressing. Well-done, and Justine Waddell is marvelous in it, but good grief! Rapes, deaths, infant mortality, murders, hard labor. Not exactly a happy story.

I was delighted by the silly-but-fun My Life in Ruins. Nia Vardalos is charming and always willing to make fun of herself. The movie itself is improbable and your standard rom-com fluff, but I found myself laughing out loud many times, and I was overall very charmed.

Also in  my queue is a British series I've just heard of called Lark Rise to Candleford. I thought I'd give that a try, as well as finally getting around to watching series two (season two) of Ballykissangel. Again, British Broadcast Corporation for the win!

I've also been thinking it's about time I pull out Bridget Jones' Diary again. I haven't watched it in a long time, and I rather miss the old girl.

...And if the mood strikes me, and I feel like going to the cinema for something other than Eclipse, I might talk myself into seeing Toy Story 3, or Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.