Cin’s Movie Critiques

What would life be without embarrassing moments?

Recently at the gym, I needed to use a machine that some meathead had loaded up with 500 pounds of weights. So I start unloading, one 50 pounder at a time, getting a workout just by doing that. It wasn’t until I pulled the last weight off of one side, in that split second before disaster struck, that my genius kicked in and I realized I should have unloaded evenly on both sides. Too late, CRASH!!! The machine tipped over and the other 250 pounds of weights slid off the other side. Thunder and vibrations echoed through the gym and every single eye turned to me. I was horrified!

There is a good side though. Mr. Muscles, who is the hottest guy in the entire gym, and three, yes three of his friends, were kind enough to pick up the machine for me. Although this was just about as embarrassing as the initial disaster, it has prompted them to talk to me every day! Granted, it’s caveman language and remarks like “Hey Cin, let us know if you need help picking up any machines today.” But at least they notice me right?

If that weren’t enough, the story actually has a new development. I’ve recounted this tale to some friends and family members, always emphasizing how incredibly built Mr. Muscles is, and how enjoyable it was to watch those muscles flex right in front of my eyes.

Monday, I’m picking Colton up from the playroom and in comes Mr. Muscles to pick up his son, and of course, asked me if I tipped anything over that day. Colton looked up at him and had a shining moment of realization. Then he LOUDLY asked me, “Hey Mom! Is that Mr. Muscles?!”

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey. Rated PG-13 for some sex-related material. 2003, Romantic Comedy. Cin’s Critique:

Andie writes how-to columns for a magazine and to add emphasis to her latest article “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days”, she takes a bet that she can do just that. Ben is an ad executive and ladies man who takes a bet that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Naturally, they find each other, and the hilarity begins! While Andie does insanely absurd things to ensure he dumps her, Ben keeps gritting his teeth and puts up with it all to win his own bet. This one is a chick flick that the guys will like because it is gut busting laughter from the time Andie and Ben meet each other until they realize they are actually in love. Plus it has a great Keith Urban song in it!

I recently made a spur of the moment trip to Las Vegas to visit my beautiful, yet twisted sister. (Yes, I’m going to use that line every time I refer to her, it is just so fitting!) Anyway, Vegas is always fun. We visited the Stratosphere, we ate at the buffet. We covered our eyes at the Taxi Cab advertisements. Great fun. From the top of the Stratosphere, I could see the hotel named…Stardust.

Stardust

Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro. Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and risque humor. 2007, Fantasy. Cin’s Critique:

A young man from a small countryside town crosses the wall into a magical kingdom to retrieve a fallen star. The star turns out to be a lovely young woman and the two begin their journey to safety while being pursued by those that want to use the star for dark and sinister purposes.

I was expecting a wonderful movie here, but was absolutely blown away by how spectacular this one was! Thoroughly entertaining and imaginative from beginning to end. Claire Danes is lovely, and believable as a fallen star. Michelle Pfeiffer nails her performance as a beautiful, evil witch. And although Robert De Niro only has a small role, he steals the entire movie. He was absolutely hilarious!

Stardust is a fantasy adventure suitable for the entire family, you will love it as much as your children. (Hmm…I meant as much as your children love it, but I think I’ll leave that sentence as it is for emphasis.)

I hate to do it, but I suppose all good things must come to an end. Goodbye Guy Pearce, I will miss blogging about you… Thanks Raelynn, for the excellent suggestion! In closing, I will briefly touch on several movies that I haven’t given a full review of. For a complete filmography visit www.imdb.com.

Dating the Enemy (1996): A couple wakes up one morning to discover they have switched bodies. I desperately want to watch this one as it looks absolutely hilarious, but unfortunately I cannot find it anywhere. For a comical clip, visit youtube.com

LA Confidential (1997): This one was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and won a couple of Oscars in other categories. However, I distinctly remember hating this film the entire time I was watching it. Who knows, maybe I was just having a bad day, but even though Guy Pearce looks really good, I couldn’t force myself through the pain again.

The Hard Word (2002): About three bank-robber brothers trying to stay out of jail while constantly committing crimes that land them back inside. This one was an interesting twist on the usual bank-robber plot.

The Proposition (2005): A notorious outlaw and his younger brother are apprehended, but his captor offers him a bargain. Kill his older brother, who is much more desired by the law, or let his younger brother be executed. I really wanted to like this one, it seemed like it had so much to offer, but I was extremely disappointed. Apparently most critics disagree with me because it has received all kinds of acclaim. Oh well, at least I can stay true to my own opinions.

And watch for Guy in upcoming films First Snow (about a man trying to prevent his foretold death) and Death Defying Acts (about Harry Houdini) both due out later this year. He also has four films scheduled to release in 2008.

Memento

Guy Pearce, Carrie Ann Moss. Rated R for violence, language and some drug content. 2000, Mystery/Thriller. Cin’s Critique:

This movie is a puzzle. It begins five minutes from the end. After playing out those five minutes, it stops and rewinds to ten minutes from the end and plays another five minute increment. Thus telling the story backwards, yet building upon new information. It very effectively draws you into the life of the character.

“Lets see…what am I doing? Oh! I’m chasing this guy. No…he’s chasing me!” This is by far the funniest part of the movie, as the main character finds himself running, but can’t remember why. He figures out quickly (while being shot at) that he is not the one doing the chasing.

Leonard Shelby suffers from anterograde amnesia, a form of memory loss that prevents him from forming new memories. The last thing he does remember: his wife being murdered. This is a story of revenge. He tries to piece together information as he gathers it, using written notes, photographs, even tattoos, before he loses his memory of it. His goal is to use this information to track down his wife’s killer.

Twisted, unusual and hard to follow, this one you may have to watch twice to figure out, but it would be well worth the time it takes to do so. Click here for a preview.

A Slipping Down Life

Guy Pearce, Lili Taylor. Rated R for language including sexual references. 1999, Drama/Romance. Cin’s Critque:

Beginning: bizarre. Characters: bizarre. Plot: bizarre. Setting: bizarre. Ending: bizarre.

A young woman in a small town becomes obsessed with a local rock singer (played by Guy Pearce, so who can blame her?). The movie really gets going when her obsession causes her to slice his name into her forehead. This causes a small uproar, forcing them to meet. Eventually they fall in love. Then they have trials, and we get to watch them unfold. We watch the characters learn and grow. Then they have a happy ending.

This is a “slice of life” movie. The first time I watched it, I was channel surfing and caught a glimpse of Guy. When it was over I rolled my eyes and thought what a waste of time it was. But then, I surfed onto it a few days later and couldn’t stop watching. Ended up deciding that I actually liked the reality of this one. It wasn’t all glammed up for people to watch, and was full of tangible emotion.

For bonus points: the soundtrack is kick-ass! Really, it’s just good enough to watch Guy Pearce perform as a musician. Combine his looks with a passionate singing voice and you have an irrefutable match. For a sample of that, click here. This link will take you to iTunes, you’ll need to click on the icon for “One Grey Morning” to have a listen. Enjoy!