The Constant Gardener
Mood:  a-ok
The Constant Gardener
Another highly praised movie which actually deserves it. It's the story about a revolutionary woman asking the wrong questions about the wrong people who gets herself killed. In the search for a motive to his wife's murder Justin (Ralph Fiennes) encounters betrayal, lies and the reason why his wife is dead.

The good thing about it, this is no sob story (I'm a huge crybaby and didn't shed a tear). This is more a movie that is looking to wake social concience among it's viewers. Yes, it is another "political background" movie nominated to the Academy Awards.

Rachel Weiss definitely deserves all the awards she's won for this movie. Her character, Tessa, although being the main element, is still a supporting role. Weiss gets to show another side to what people remember her (she's Brendan Fraser's wife in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns).

Even though I probably won't watch it again, I truly think there is a much wider audience who would watch the Constant Gardener over and over again.

My Personal Rating:***

Fun with Dick and Jane
Liar Liar meets Ocean's Eleven. JIM CARREY is back Fun with Dick and Jane was refreshing. It's the comedy we all love to see Jim Carrey in but toned down a bit, which may actually appeal to others who are not such big fans of Carrey. I laughed really hard most of the time, so did everyone else in the movie theater, which, I might add, was pretty full.

I don't want to get too much into the plot, cause I might ruin it for you, but in a few words, Dick gets a big promotion and tells his wife to quit, so she can spend more time with their son, since it's such a big raise that he can support them based only on his salary. The next day, she quits, at the same time that his company crashes, therefore losing his job. And they literaly get into anything that can help them survive.

As for Tea Leoni, I have to admit, I've seen her in comedies and in dramas, and I was a bit hesitant into beliving she could keep up with the Carrey kind of comedy, but she was rather impresive. It kind of reminded me of the Aniston-Carrey chemistry in Bruce Almighty. Leoni-Carrey are a great on screen duo.

Unlike some of Carrey's comedies that have some parents hesitant to take their kids to watch, such as "Me, Myself and Irene" and "Ace Ventura", I'd say this one has a more family friendly humour.

Carrey rarely dissapoints me (only once actually in Cable Guy), I've seen almost every movie he's ever made (I just missed Man on the Moon), come on I even saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And even though Truman Show is still my favorite Carrey movie, Dick and Jane has definitely made it into my Carrey Top Five.

My personal rating: ****1/2

And for those wondering about my Carrey top Five:
The Truman Show
Liar Liar
The Majestic
Bruce Almighty
Dick and Jane

Syriana
Academy award nominee? Academy award to best supporting actor? This is the exact reason why no one wants to watch the main award shows anymore. I mean, the Red Carpet show has more audience than the ceremony. People don't want to see bad movies awarded when the real good movies, the ones driving seats to the box office don't get more than an MTV Movie Award, People's Choice, or Kid's Choice Award.

I watched Syriana yesterday and I really wish I had stayed home instead of going to the movies to see a movie with an incredibly slow plot (if there any), and even though the stories are connected, I really don't think this movie was nominated for anything other than political reasons.

The ending was surprisingly good though, that is of course, if you actually got through the whole movie. I must admit that the only reason why I watched the whole thing was cause I had payed for it, if I had been home and that movie was showing, I swear I would have switched to anything else that was on.

I have to leave things clear though, it's not that I didn't understand what it was about, it's just that a two hour film was completely unnecesary, I mean, I could've edited the whole thing into an hour movie.

I would only recommend this movie to you, if you happen to hate George Clooney. Why? First of all, he has a very unattractive look with the dirty beard and about 15 pounds overweight. Second, he gets physically tortured (someones rips of the nails off his fingers), and he gets the hell beaten out of him.

I really think that whatever praises Syriana got, the real movie that deserved them was Munich, with political background and all, this movie was probably one of the best ones I've seen all year long (and I don't like dramas and I'm not into politics). It was smart, long enough and truly worth anyone's time.

So as for Syriana, my personal rating would be: **
And for Munich, my personal rating: ****1/2

Brokeback Mountain
So on Friday I finally watched this movie I've been waiting for long to see. I don't know why but lately movies have been coming way too late to my country. Anyway, I read that morning in the newspaper that the movie was still not approved by the Government and with my country being so insanely religious, I had to convince my boyfriend to take me to the premiere before it was taken out of theaters, just like they did with Stigmata, or El Crimen del Padre Amaro, a couple years ago.

In any case, we went. I regret to say that the only thing I didn't enjoy was the other people in the movie theathre (check out my blog post about it).

For those who have been living under a rock and don't know what the movie is about, the movie is about the journey of two men who discover their love for one another while working together herding sheep. The movie takes place in the 60s, way before the gay revolution we are currently living, way before Ellen, Queer Eye, Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, among many others.

This movie is one of the greatest movies I've seen in a long time. For the first time, we are portrayed with two men who don't fit into any of the typical movie stereotype gay guy. As a supporter of Gay Rights (even though I'm straight) I was pleased to watch a movie so real and amazing.

Both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (or however you spell that) were incredible. The women in the movie were great too, though I was a bit traumatized by Anne Hathaway's topless scene, I mean the last thing I saw her was the Princess Diaries . And I have to admit both Michelle Williams (Jen in Dawson's Creek) and Hathaway were able to show the world they can act in a Non-Teen environment and will definitely be considered for more serious characters in the future.

I have nothing other than praises for this movie. I mean, if you have an open mind, you are definitely going to love it. The ending was probably the best of the whole movie, they capture in no more than 10 minutes the warmth and the love of the two main characters over the past twenty years. Obviously we are talking about a tragic love story. This isn't a fairy tale, definitely not.

Also, the movie was tasteful. Sexual encounters are not too explicit. The make out scenes are short and to the point. Nothing that should gross out anyone with a little bit of respect to others. I mean, there is more "straight scenes" than "gay scenes". This is definitely one movie I will definitely have to own on my DVD collection.

And of course it's no wonder that my rating for this one is: *****

Jarhead
I graduated from a German School, and after years of learning about the Second World War (since the 7th grade), and watching tons of videos and movies about it, of which I need to clarify that it was to create conscience of what had happened, and in no way trying to make us support WWII (I'm tired of people thinking that Germans are still Nazis and racists, when they are so ashamed of their past and trying the hardest possible to erase the scars)... Anyway, I'm getting of the subject... I guess that where I'm trying to get is that after more than 5 years of watching war movies, I was really tired of them.
But I went to see Jarhead, why? Simply cause of Jake Gyllenhaal. I heard of the Santa Claus hat scene, and I just had to watch it .
I liked Jarhead (most of it anyway, I'll get to that later). Why? Cause it was not the typical war movie where the American soldier is the hero. It's not a movie about Americans kicking Iraki ass. It goes much deeper into it.

I must say I don't know the historical background of the movie, all I know is that Irak invaded Kuwait and the US Marines, where sent to camp in the desert for over six months for a 4 day war. So the movie was mostly about the desperation those men felt, while waiting, waiting and waiting for the attack. They waited for mail from their significant others, going through nasty break ups with them, killing time, going crazy.
I must say that more than Jake's character, the main one, I loved Troy (played by Peter Sarsgaard). I was really moved by his story, I won't go much deeper cause I'll ruin it for you.
Now to the part I didn't like: To watch Jarhead a strong stomach is required. Not cause of the gore and the killing (that I can live with). THere's a couple of nasty puking scenes, among other stuff (definitely not a movie for the impressionable or for the underage).
Personal Rating: ****

March of the Penguins
So, yesterday after a 15 minute arguement of what to watch, I finally convinced my boyfriend of watching a documentary at the movies, March of the Penguins.

It is very unlike me to watch a documentary at home... much less pay to watch one... but I had heard many good comments on the movie, that and the academy award they won. I had to admit the Happy Feet trailer confused me, and I kinda was expecting dancing penguins by the end of the movie, too bad, I'll watch that one some other time.

Anyway, back to the subject, I really recommend March of the Penguins to those who want a possitive view of how their good their lives are, cause, you see, penguins don't have a very easy life. It is no the typical documentary where you hear the narrators voice saying ".. and the penguin jumps to the water to find it's death". The whole thing is narrated in first person. You'll hear three voices, one impersonating a female penguin, one a male penguin and one for the baby penguin.

All in all, it's a very cute movie. I am officially into penguins now (too bad I live in the tropic and I can't have a penguin. It is a great date movie, since it even has some romantic moments and it's also a great family movie, since it's violence free (predator scenes are implied, but no graphic violence is shown).

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
For those who have never heard of Gregory Maguire he is the author behind books like Wicked, Son of a Witch, Mirror Mirror and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. What are the books about? Let's take the classic stories that we all heard at some point of our lives, such as Cinderella, Snowhite and the Wizard of Oz and give them a realistic spin, where being ugly doesn't mean that you are evil and being pretty is nothing more than a curse, for no one takes your opinions seriously for you are nothing else than an adornment.

This is what called my attention for reading "Confessions". So I ordered the book and started reading it as soon as I got it. Usually when it comes to a decision of choosing between reading or watching TV, I usually end up with the second option, however, this is one of the books that have made me choose reading over TV.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so I'll try not to give anything away. The book basically tells you the story of beautiful Cinderella (Clara) seen from one of the stepsister's point of view. You are presented with a mother that is focused on getting her two esthetically challenged daughters a decent life after her husband passed away, two sisters, complex in their own way, one considered smart but ugly as hell, and the other one big and thought of as retarded. You are also presented the not so perfect family of Clara, the one that does not consider her feelings when using her as a promotional item.

The novel lived to each one of my expectations. Would I read anything else by Maguire? Definitely. Right after finishing "Confessions" I ordered Wicked (I'm expecting it to arrive this week). I wondered why I hadn't heard about that one before. This one is based in my all time favorite "The Wizard of Oz". I'm really looking forward to reading it. You know... I always kind of liked the Wicked Witch of the West. In my opinion she had every right to be pissed at Dorothy for throwing a house on her sister. I mean who wouldn't; no matter how annoying your sister is.

In recap... If you wanna erase the image of the "and they lived happily ever after" thing.. this is the kind of book for you.

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