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Bottle Shock is the movie we saw yesterday. It was not only enjoyable and funny, it also made me want to curl up on a deck chair with a good book and some excellent chardonnay. (For the budget conscious, Fetzer’s “Sundial” Chardonnay is quite tasty.)
Today, for Media Monday, I’m sharing the trailer.
The trailer’s been released for the better part of a week, and I’ve seen it on the big screen (in front of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Ironically, even though I KNEW the trailer was on this film, it surprised me.) so I decided that since I’m off to San Francisco in a few hours, for a novel workshop/agent pitch thing, it was a good time to post this.
November can’t come soon enough.
(And those who know me, will understand the irony in that statement.)
It’s completely geeky to admit it, but I have a thing for Brendan Fraser, even if his website is woefully out of date. It’s even more neglected than this blog has been lately. Dusty, cobwebby, and sort of forgotten, but still nice to visit from time to time. Anyway, true confessions time: He’d totally be on my freebie list. If I had one. Which I don’t.
Needless to say, this summer has been a feast of Fraser at the movies, what with Disney giving us a new version of Journey to the Center of the Earth, which was cute, but a bit too short and not terribly well written (well, I had to see it. I’m a Jules Verne fan too.), and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor which also needed some script help, I thought (the prologue was long enough that for a while I thought it was a short film called “Exposition.”), and Rachel Weisz has been replaced by Maria Bello (who brought a fresh interpretation of Evelyn), which was disappointing at first, but then wasn’t, after all, but it was still a great escapist romp.
We saw Journey…, the same weekend we saw Mamma Mia. The same day, even, and we saw The Mummy last night at Studio Movie Grill, combining it with dinner. (Their turkey burgers with sweet potato fries are really good, btw.) I was surprised that The Dark Knight was still selling out shows, and that Step Brothers was sold out - it’s on my list of “movies I would gouge my eyes out before paying to see,” after all, but I recognize that many people like sophomoric humor. I don’t. I never have. I don’t like slapstick, and I also don’t like animation. A lot. Especially animated slapstick.
In any case, the theaters were full for both Fraser films, and our fellow audience members were into both films. Last night, especially. I like it when a film can make the audience respond with cheers and laughter, when it really is engaging enough to trigger the willful suspense of disbelief and when you find yourself applauding at the end, even though you KNOW it’s a film and no one can hear you.
This isn’t a review, so much as a ramble, and one of the topics I wanted to address is that my affection for Fraser’s work has to do with his finesse at playing against type. We expect someone who looks like him to be a perfect action hero, but he brings just enough silly that his performance becomes, not a pale imitation of folks like Harrison Ford (as Indiana Jones), but an homage to them. He has this great knack of being just a little bit bimbo-esque but with intelligence in his eyes.
And yet, he also has range. Go rent Gods and Monsters or The Quiet American if you don’t believe me.
In any case, I’d recommend Journey to the Center of the Earth for the tween crowd and their parents, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for pretty much anyone, and I’m not just saying that because I really like the setting of Shanghai in the ’40s, either.
It opened here on Friday, and we saw it on Sunday, and loved it. It’s fluff, but it’s joyful fluff, and reminded me of being seven years old and knowing the lyrics to all of ABBA’s music. I had to be restrained to keep from singing along. (Note: there needs to be a sing-along Mamma Mia in the same vein as the sing-along Sound of Music.)
As we were leaving, Fuzzy said, “So we’re buying this on DVD as soon as it comes out, right?”
As if there’s any question.
P.S. The calendar may say “Tuesday,” but as I haven’t been to bed yet, it’s still “Monday” to me.
I’m still loving my mobile router from Powerful Signal, so much so that I’ve done a video review about it. It uses images from trips to SoDak, where I’d have given my eye teeth and Zorro’s too if I’d had one then. As it was, I still have nightmares about the ‘net withdrawl I went through on that trip.
Here’s why I’m so tickled that I got to receive one of these cellular routers to play with:
About the only thing I’d do to improve this product is make it run on batteries. Or a car charger, although there’s a model that does the latter, I think. Even so, I’m planning to take it with me to San Francisco next month…just in case the advertised wifi at the hotel doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to.
Oh, and, here’s my review, in words and still images, because for some reason my computer is not detecting the integrated camera.
I was slow to jump on the podcast bandwagon, for reasons I can’t really explain. Nevertheless, I’ve since seen the proverbial light, and am now addicted to the medium.
Recently, I’ve become hooked on two free offerings from the American Theatre Wing, which organizations gives us the Tony Awards among other nifty programs, like sending theatre professionals into New York City schools, or making it possible for NYC students and their parents to attend special performances of various Broadway shows that also include a discussion with cast and crew members.
Downstage Center is a true podcast featuring in-depth interviews with performers, producers and playwrights. It’s available via RSS and XM Satellite radio as well as on iTunes.
Working in the Theatre is a video cast available on the ATW website or via iTunes and is produced in partnership with CUNY (City University of New York). It’s a panel-discussion show that rotates epsiodes featuring performers, producers, and playwrights.
Both are fascinating if you’re a true theatre geek, and interesting enough for the casual audience as well.
Yours