Treehouse Time

I watched the new Croods sequel. Ryan Reynolds and Nic Cage as weird cavemen? Yes. More of that.

But the sequel in particular got me by featuring Leslie Mann in a fantastical treehouse, which was how I was first introduced to her in the Brendan Fraser classic “George in the Jungle”. Probably also how I was first introduced to Brendan Fraser and John Cleese. Thomas Haden Church … Maybe everyone in that movie? I was a very young child.

Anyway, “Croods 2” was a joy, and if you still need more of Leslie Mann in an epic treehouse, go back and watch “George of the Jungle” again.

Bonus Question!

Best George?

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron.

"Gods Behaving Badly" Filmed Badly?

Big fan of mythology. Also comedy. And also fantasy stories. There was this book, “Gods Behaving Badly”, which hit that trifecta for me quite well when I read it ages ago.

Today, I just learned that it was made into a movie in 2013 with an astonishing cast. Christopher Walken was Zeus. That’s just a taste.

In the same day, I tried to find a place to watch it, whereupon I discovered that it had one showing at an Italian film festival before consensus decreed that the director’s inexperience and the general messiness of its production made the movie essentially unreleasable. Thus, it was never actually released.

But at least I saw some pictures. I got a taste.

Bonus Question!

Best movie about badly behaved gods?

“Thor”. It’s not even the best Thor movie, but the entire plot starts when Thor’s bad behaviour gets his father to overreact and send him to Earth, which is bad behaviour in itself. And then Loki starts behaving worse.

Back to the Past with Gerard Butler

My brother was telling me that he’d recently watched a great romantic comedy with Gerard Butler, which intrigued me because he generally delves into that genre far less than I do. He told me the name of it, and I asked if that was the one where the poster has a woman with a chocolate box and Gerard Butler with a chocolate box over his crotch. He said that wasn’t it, and then I got to wondering what the name of that movie was. I looked it up and discovered it was “The Ugly Truth”, but then I looked further down the man’s filmography and found some captivating stuff. Like this movie called “Timeline” that was meant to be a vehicle for Paul Walker in the immediate wake of the first Fast and the Furious movie. It’s about an archaeological team that goes back to medieval France on a quest to rescue their professor. How could I turn that down? Even my brother couldn’t. Worthwhile watch.

Bonus Question!

Best medieval time travel film with French stuff?

“Just Visiting” with Jean Reno, which was apparently a remake of a French film Jean Reno did a few years earlier.

Too Legal

So. I just heard that a new Legally Blonde movie is coming out in a few months, and since I have relatively fond memories of seeing the first one in elementary school, I thought I’d prepare by seeing the second one, which I missed for whatever reason.

But when I started watching it, it began to seem very familiar, and increscent recollections of an earlier viewing started to trickle in. I now believe that I went to see it with my cousins during a family vacation to Prince Edward Island 17 years ago.

Anyway, now I’m doubly prepared.

Bonus Question!

Favourite lawyer?

Daredevil. Maybe not best lawyer though. Dude doesn’t always prioritize that job.

Girlfriend in a Phone-a! I know! I know! It's Siri-ous

I just saw "Jexi". I didn't see "Her", but I assume that this was basically that but more dysfunctional. Which is why it's a comedy. And the fact that it was a comedy was all I knew beyond its main actor before I saw it. But yeah. Like “Her”, it’s a movie about a dude who gets far too intimate with a sentient digital assistant.
So. It was fun.
Will I see "Her"?
I doubt it. But I'm sure it's good too. But "Jexi" was what I saw.

Bonus Question!
Best sentient digital assistant?

J.A.R.V.I.S. In large part because Paul Bettany in Marvel is like chocolate in peanut butter soup.

Fun Run

Saw “Brittany Runs a Marathon”. I knew I recognised the lead actor, though I couldn’t place her intuitively. Then I discovered I didn’t even know her name. I’d just seen her in stuff.

But it was solid. She’s playing someone who’s reaching the end of her 20s with the realisation that her habits have begun to endanger her health. Her response is to throw herself into running in order to get better.

Honestly, I was reminded slightly of what I went through a little while ago, though for me it was the reverse. I’d been running habitually for a while, and that turned out to exacerbate the frailty I’d had for my whole life. But still, I related to that feeling of teetering on the precipice of infirmity and committing to the quest to improve.

Outside of that, it was still good.

Bonus Question!

Longest run?

There were two occasions on which I inadvertently ran half marathons because I didn’t want to stop.

Yesterday Came Out Several Yesterdays Ago, But I Finally Saw It

Everyone knows I'm a big fan of Richard Curtis. Or they don't. But I am. "Love Actually" has a particular place in my heart after its introduction to me during a hospital stay at the end of one summer break led to endless viewings.

At the end of this summer, there was nothing in theatres I really wanted to see, which pushed me to finally give "Yesterday" a shot after I'd let it pass by for months. And then I realised it was written by Richard Curtis.

So. I thank you, September movie drought, for pushing me back into the warm embrace of Richard Curtis.

Bonus Question!

Favourite Beatle?

Paul. Dude just likes to be on. I feel that.

Nazi Rabbits

I just saw "Jojo Rabbit". I'd only heard enough about it over the last year to think that it sounded interesting and believe that it was about a kid with a stuffed rabbit that was inhabited by the soul of Adolf Hitler. I don't even remember if I ever knew that Taika Waititi was involved.

Anyway, I was wrong about most of the second part, which wasn't surprising, but I was right about the part where I thought I'd like it. That wasn't a surprise either. In addition to being eminently enjoyable, it also did a good job of showing that the occasional jerk can be taught to stop being one. And hey. Statistically? A lot can't. But some can. And that's one manifestation of the movie's main message of hope.

Also. Neither Taika Waititi nor Adolf Hitler look like Jon Hamm. But when I saw Taika Waititi in Adolf Hitler costume, I couldn’t help thinking that he looked vaguely similar to Jon Hamm.

Bonus Question!

Favourite part?

The whole thing was exquisite, but I took the greatest visceral pleasure from Sam Rockwell's performance. That happens sometimes. Once it even happened with a dude who turned out to not be Sam Rockwell.