October Media Consumption: Movies

How is it that I can only watch four movies every month?

1. Baby Mama (2008) - As far as I'm concerned, Tina Fey is the funniest, smartest woman on TV right now. I'll watch anything she was a part of (writing or acting). Amy Poehler can go a little too far over-the-top for me, but even when she's doing that she's making me laugh. It was odd that Poehler's character went from ghetto to insightful so quickly, though. (I'm talking about the scene where Fey's character drops her off at the hotel and she says, "You're mad because someone like me can have a baby and you can't." Ouch. And that was after she peed in the sink and put gum under the coffee table.) How icky was Sigourney Weaver's character? She's got to be in her mid-50s, right? *shiver*

2. The Stepford Wives (1975) - Oh, yeah! I found this on TV while Brian was on the hunt. I wasn't going to watch it because I thought it was that piece of crap remake with Nicole Kidman and Ferris Buehler when I looked at the guide. Who knew the original is good? It stars Katharine Ross as Joanna Eberhart and Paula Prentiss as her friend, Bobbie Markowe. In case you're too young, Katharine Ross is the girl in "The Graduate" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." She is sublimely beautiful. Prentiss is also very pretty. And the guys playing their husbands? Woof. It makes the story even more creepy that the husbands are so undeserving of these brilliant, creative women. (Not just because they are unattractive physically, but because they are insecure, selfish, whiny... you get the idea. The fact that they would rather be married to a robot than a companion who would challenge them is pretty telling of their personalities.) This movie was made back in the day when they took their time telling the story and it was okay to have moments without dialogue or music. It's unnerving. The 2004 remake was such a cartoon and ended so ridiculously that I wasn't prepared for the spooky conclusion of the original.

3. Ironman (2008) - I know, I know - I'm the last one to see this movie. I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr. is making the most of his nine lives. It was refreshing that he and Pepper didn't hook up in the end. (Um, duh that the huge bald guy with the Santa beard ended up being the bad guy.)

4. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) - Another movie to rent when your husband isn't home. It stars Frances McDormand as Miss Pettigrew and Amy Adams as Delysia Lafosse (yes, you do pronounce Delysia the way you think). For one day in London in 1939, Miss Pettigrew pretends to be Delysia's social secretary so that she (Miss Pettigrew) doesn't have to sleep on a park bench. Delysia is juggling three men - the one whose apartment she lives in, the one producing the show she wants to star in, and the one from back home who actually loves her (played by Lee Pace - how cute is he?). There's a fashion show, Moaning Myrtle from "Harry Potter" (forever typecast in my mind) is Delysia's evil bf, there's a party, Delysia and her true love sing a song together and everything ends very neatly. Not very interesting, but what a beautiful movie! The costumes and sets are unbelievable - I was transported.