Paddington (2014)

20180129:
The film was full of good laughs and I enjoyed the story. Overall, Paddington was a charming movie. I would highly recommend it as a family movie.

Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) and Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins)

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 96% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

---

Instant Comments:
2: I was exercising and didn't catch why Uncle [Pastuzo] just stood there [one answer I found said he got stuck]
2: huh it didn't look as though that many jars fit in the suitcase.
2: no one is alarmed by a bear (in train station)
1: The "Lost" light [~12 minute mark]
1: "Stranger danger. Keep your eyes down, there's some sort of bear."
1: The "Found" light illuminates [~13 minute mark, after Mary approaches him]
2: right above his head: Paddington.
2: oh yeah, I forgot that there were villains in this movie (Nicole Kidman)
2: interesting, she is knowledgeable of such a bear who loves marmalade
2: smile "he is now"
2: Jim Broadbent

Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville), Jonathan brown (Samuel Joslin), and Judy Brown (Madeleine Harris)

2: hehe the license plate is CABBIE (or similar)
2: I forgot thus but about their father having a different personailty prior to birth of his children
2: Nicole Kidman as this villain is great. it's evil but not overly dark.
2: hahaha "I had it lasered"
2: "and the arms grown back"
2: hahaha "nothing"
2: that one guard was so nice, allowed Paddington shelter from rain and offered sandwich, dessert, and drinks
2: hahaha! "...and he's a bear." "it's not much to go on"
2: he just brings around the chemistry set hehe
2: I love the aesthetic of each family member in a different height hole under the stairs

References Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2: "and that someone is me" (his wife fills in the picture of the hero)
2: hmm the lockdown closed some windows but Mr. Brown was still able to re-enter
1: Lol. Reference to Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
2: hehe vacumms and Mission Impossible theme song. likely they would run out of batteries like in the movie
2: hehe. Mrs. Bird arrives after the birds (pigeons)

Credits:
1: Imelda Staunton was the voice of Aunt Lucy
1: Michael Gambon was the voice of Uncle Pastuzo
1: It's interesting how Harry Potter exposed me to so many British actors and actresses. In addition to Staunton and Gambon, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent were also in this film. At the time of this writing, however, Broadbent's role in the Harry Potter series does not make it to his "Known For" section on IMDb.

Millicent (Nicole Kidman)

1=20180129, 2=20230910

---

Watched 20180129 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched 20230910 (Netflix)
Paddington (2014) Paul King. 95 min

Relevant Links:
Paddington (IMDb.com)
Paddington (RottenTomatoes.com)
Paddington (film) (Wikipedia.org)

Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters)

Caddyshack (1980)

20160301:
I fell asleep during the entire first two-thirds of the movie (and woke up around the 1 hour 5 minute mark*). I was actually still sleepy during the second part.

From the scenes I saw, Caddyshack was a funny movie with some good jokes.

Ty Webb (Chevy Chase)

*When Danny wakes up in the locker room and begins talking to Maggie.

[20160301 Edit][20180201]

---

20180122:
I started watching this movie once before while on a plane (in-flight entertainment). According to my notes, it was back on 20160301 - much longer ago than I thought was the case.

Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield)

Anyways, the movie made more sense watching it from start to finish, but some of the cultural significance of the movie went over my head.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 97% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

[20180907 Edit]

---

Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe)

Instant Comments:
2: Four or five Cokes. Ha.
2: Haha. WTF. The gopher moved the flag and then pulled it down into the ground.
2: "Say, Fred, did you hear the one about the Jew, the Catholic, and the Colored Boy who went to heaven?"

Carl Spackler (Bill Murray)

2: "Let me tell you a little story? I once knew a guy who could have been a great golfer, could have gone pro, all he needed was a little time and practice. Decided to go to college instead. Went for four years, did pretty well. At the end of his four years, his last semester he was kicked out... You know what for? He was night putting, just putting at night with the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Dean..."

Danny and Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight)

2: No bra. Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan)
2: Haha. Baby Ruth. I think this scene was referenced in Bob's Burgers.
2: Haha. Sniffs the salt, bites the lime, throws the tequilla over his shoulder.
2=20180122

Maggie O'Hooligan (Sarah Holcomb)

---

Watched 20160301 (In-flight entertainment)
Watched 20180122 (Netflix, Instant)
Caddyshack (1980) Harold Ramis. 98 min

Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan)

Relevant Links:
Caddyshack (IMDb.com)
Caddyshack (RottenTomatoes.com)
Caddyshack (Wikipedia.org)

Troy (2004)

Achilles (Brad Pittt)

20040622:
While I have a lingering feeling that I liked the movie, as of 20110115, I didn't have any memory of what happened during the film - very much like Seven Years in Tibet (1997). I could only deduce that it wasn't that great a movie.

I would consider watching it again, because I haven't seen it in such a long time, but I probably wouldn't watch it ever again after that.

[20110115]

Hector (Eric Bana)

---

20180117:
I watched this movie once in theaters. I recall it was the first movie I saw in theater during which I nodded off to sleep; I was tired.

After watching this movie today, I concluded that parts of the movie were exciting, but I'd much rather read The Illiad or watch Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Helen (Diane Kruger)

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

---

Instant Comments:
"That's why no one will remember your name." - Achilles to the messenger boy.
That swift blow.

Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson)

I can't tell that Menelaus is Bredan Gleeson. He looks different from his role as Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter series.
Oh, I didn't remember this part of the story: Paris and Helen (in particular, it being a partial cause of the Trojan war)
Huh. Have they met before this?

Odysseus (Sean Bean)

He says "I must show you something." Grammatically he should say, "I must show you someone."
That was a soft push.
Hmm. The story as portrayed here seems ridiculous. He single-handedly started the war.
"It's too early in the day for killing princes."
Oh. That sucks. (Achilles cousin) Though I suppose that's what he gets for impersonating Achilles.

Priam (Peter O'Toole), Paris (Orlando Bloom), and Glaucus (James Cosmo)

Paris does nothing right... Lol.
Awkward. "Briseis, come." (Doesn't say sorry for killing Achilles.)

---

Released 20040514.
Watched 20040622 Theater. Garden Grove 16 [TROY] $5.50. 12:35pm.
Watched 20180117 (Netflix, Instant)
Troy (2004) Wolfgang Petersen. 163 min [loosely bot epic poem The Illiad]

Briseis (Rose Byrne) and Achilles

Relevant Links:
Troy (IMDb.com)
Troy (RottenTomatoes.com)
Troy (film) (Wikipedia.org)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

20180109:
Today I watched this film with my coworkers.

The plot was bad.

There's something about the film's visuals which causes me to think that it looks excessively fake (e.g., too dependent on special effects), but I had the same problem with an early scene from Man of Steel. I guess I can't handle scenes which look too beautiful.

Uncertain of whether it's just me or an aspect of the movie, I'll give the film the benefit of the doubt and say that it has amazing visuals (I would at least agree that most of the time it did).

Unfortunately, the film still failed with respect to story and dialogue, both of which were bad and cheesy.

In the end, I would not recommend the movie to anybody.

[20180614]

---

Instant Comments:
This start from the alien species with the beach looked like it was done entirely CGI. The people, the landscape, etc. It reminded me of Avatar but was looked more like a video game or 3D animation.
Avi, who saw about an hour of the film already, asked if Valerian sounded like Keanu Reeves. Yeah, he does.
Lol. Adam says important things shouldn't be called a memo.
The style of this movie (e.g., costumes and set) reminded me of The 5th Element. A bit eccentric / tacky.
I asked how interacting with objects inside the VR world worked. Avi said it's like you have to interact and live with both worlds once you're inside. So somehow if you swing inside the VR world you manage to swing outside. I wasn't entirely convinced.
The creature seems more like a duplicator. I thought it was a "converter."
Good choice to go to the small ship. I was about to say the small ship Valerian was pursuing could easily evade his bigger ship.
Seatbelt.
Haha. "I'm Bob by the way. Hi."
Valerian is too cocky to be a likable protagonist.
Avi said the pimp looked familiar. [Apparently he's Ethan Hawke]
Awesome performance (Rihanna) - even though about half of it wasn't Rihanna.
Avi asked why Valerian and/or Laureline didn't try to communicate back with the command center.
Sure. Just murder another species to save the girl. On a related note, how are other species allowed to live on this space station without being under some sort of space station rules.
Did Bubble help phase them through the sewer door?
Why did Bubble have to die?
They didn't show Valerian release his hand on the gun. Which made the whole scene strange to me.
"A soldier will choose death over annihilation?" What a terrible line.
Adam said with all that punching she's doing, he's probably already dead.
Wait. I thought the point of using the communication pod was because he couldn't walk outside. [Oh in the next scene, Valerian jumped back through the wall. I guess he wanted to go with them? Or maybe he thought thwas the only way to contact the commander.]
Cheesy end. Cheesier than the whole movie.

---

Watched 20180109 (Netflix, Instant)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) Luc Besson. 137 min [bot comic series Valerian and Laureline by Pierre Christin]

Relevant Links:
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (IMDb.com)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (RottenTomatoes.com)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Wikipedia.org)

21 (2008)

20180104:
About a fourth of the way into the movie, I was bored and read the entire plot of the movie on Wikipedia. Afterwards I finished reading the plot, I decided to continue watching the film to see how it all played out on film. Overall, I'd say the plot on film was worse than the plot in writing.

Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey)

I was disappointed by the reasons for which the entire operation falls apart.

On a different note, as a mathematician, I suppose I was also a little offended about the reduction of mathematics to memorization and counting cards. It's bad enough that almost everyone I meet assumes I'm good at calculating the tip for a bill because I'm a mathematician. In short, just like there are many different specialties of being a medical doctor, there are many different fields of mathematics, and each field requires its own set of skills. Adding to that, the fundamentals that go into being a mathematician is more than just a great memory and doing arithmetic without pen and paper.

Ben (Jim Sturgess)

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 94% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down, though I was tempted to give it a thumbs down.

---

Instant Comments:
Couldn't you just win at a slower rate? Or is the rate at which their winning already slow?
Ah, it's the actor who was LeFou in the recent 2017 version of Beauty and the Beast [Josh Gad. Apparently he was also the voice of Olaf in Frozen.]
Wait. He's turning 21 and he's just applying to Harvard? [He's studying math at MIT and he's applying to Harvard Medical School]

Jill (Kate Bosworth)

References Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Poses the Monty Hall problem.
[Lol, I read the plot on Wikipedia. Plot spoiled.]
Self-driving car. He might have been onto something. Lol.
Wow. Impressive calculation.
$100,000 saved. Technically there's no reason why he has to get all the money for Harvard Medical upfront.
Hahaha. Room service.

Cole Williams (Laurence Fishurne)

Yeah. I was wondering about such an obvious signal as holding your hands behind your back. [I assume that's for the purpose of the movie]
Even though Fisher was jealous, what did he have to gain by spoiling the whole gig. He was getting money for nothing.
Lol. A line of strippers cashing out.
I wonder if he should have kept his money in a safer place.
Damn. Micky's cut was 50%. I do think his reaction to Ben's loss was an overreaction. [A scene later, if Ben has made $300k, then Micky's made over $1500k. So a $200k loss is still a profit of $1300k since Ben arriving.]

Fisher (Jacob Pitts), Kianna (Liza Lapira), Jill, and Choi (Aaron Yoo)

They didn't show the punch landing.
It sucks cause counting isn't illegal. But I suppose the movie just wants to add a little excitement to the plot.
Although it's true I read the full plot, it didn't mention whether or not Ben got punched. In any case, yeah, Williams pulled his punch.
Hmm. I mean, part of what Williams said was true, but Williams threatening Ben with a gun seemed excessive.
But in the next scene, Williams hands it to his coworker. Does that mean he'd be returning the money to the casino?

---

Watched 20180104 (Netflix, Instant)
21 (2008) Robert Luketic. 123 min

Relevant Links:
21 (IMDb.com)
21 (RottenTomatoes.com)
21 (2008 film) (Wikipedia.org)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

20110127 Comment:
Wonderful conversion of the children's book. Great to watch around the holiday. The costumes definitely resemble the book's illustrations, though I could be mistaken. It's not always the case that a 2D illustration/animation is successfully converted to live-action.

I recall Jim Carrey as the Grinch was fun to watch.

---

20180102:
Although a week has passed since Christmas, I decided that I wanted to watch this movie.

It had some laughs, but it wasn't as funny as I had hoped. With that being said, the Jim Carrey's performance as the Grinch was excellent.

Grinch (Jim Carrey)

In the end, I would say it's a holiday movie worth watching once.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

---

Instant Comments:
What!?! For the next 5 minutes, 99% off!?!
Was the book as much about the commercialization of Christmas as this movie?
Oh. Apparently this song was written for this movie: "Where Are You, Christmas?" / "Christmas, Why Can’t I Find You?"

Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen)

"Down a size and a half. And this time I'll keep it off."
"I'm an idiot!" "You're an idiot."
Ha. Pulls table cloth cleanly and pushes over dishes anyways.
Pulls off the tablecloth and is shown wearing a garter.
Ha. "A new car provided by the tax payers of Whoville."
Hahaha. "Almost lost my cool there."

Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski)

"Nice kid. Bad judge of character."

Credits:
"Where Are You Christmas?" Written by James Horner, Will Jennings and Mariah Carey. Performed by Faith Hill.
Oh, I didn't recognize the mayor as being Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr. in Arrested Development)

---

Released 20001117.
Watched 20001123 Theatre. AMC Ahwatukee 24 (Arizona) [THE GRINCH] 2:30pm $5.00
Watched 20180102 (Netflix, Instant)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Ron Howard. 104 min [bot book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957) by Dr. Seuss]

Cindy Lou pays the Grinch a visit

Relevant Links:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (IMDb.com)
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (RottenTomatoes.com)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 film) (Wikipedia.org)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Wikipedia.org)