Episode 14: "Memphis Belle"

"Memphis Belle" receives the distinct honor of being the first movie watched on our new monster TV. It will forever be remembered for that, at least for this writer.

Anyway, "Belle" is based on the true story of a B-17 bomber and its crew who successfully completed 25 missions during World War II. After their final mission, the crew was brought home to the States as heroes and (most) spent the remainder of the war selling bonds. The real-life Memphis Belle was recovered from a scrap yard in 1946 and, after years of being a mainstay near the city it is named for, is currently undergoing restoration.

The film follows the crew as they prepare for and subsequently go on what will be their last bombing run. Each of the 10 crew members is extremely well cast. Sean Astin (pre-"Rudy"), Matthew Modine, Harry Connick, Jr., D.B. Sweeney, and Billy Zane (pre-"Titanic") all play their parts to a tee. Perhaps the biggest star at the time, Eric Stoltz, shows here why he was considered to be a contender for The Next Big Thing. His portrayal of Sgt. Danny Daly brings depth and poignancy to the film. David Strathairn and John Lithgow, respectively, play the crew's commanding officer and the Army PR guy brought in to sell them to the American public. No one involved is a true movie superstar of any sort but all together they make a strong, competent team.

It's been a while since I had watched this movie and I was quickly reminded of why it works. There are really only 12 characters in the whole movie but each of them is, for lack of a better term, incredibly HUMAN. John Lithgow is a little out there but the rest of these guys seem like your next door neighbors. And that's why "Belle" works where other war-era movies fail. It's not just that you root for the characters, it's that you BELIEVE in the characters and you feel like you know them. During the action sequences, which are spliced together with real footage from WWII dogfights, you get tense and you care about the boys in the plane. Aside from "Saving Private Ryan," (which is like the Michael Jordan of modern war movies) I feel comfortable calling "Belle" one of, if not the, best. A+.

Best character: Eric Stoltz, Danny Daly
Connick (in his first film role) and Astin are both excellent as well.

Best scene: The Letter Reading scene
Straithairn drags Lithgow into his office and forces him to read some of the letter he has received from those who've had a loved under his command die. The words are spoken over real dogfight shots, making a very powerful and sobering impact.

Best line:
McVey - "Has anyone seen my St. Anthony's medal?"
Daly - "Isn't he the Patron Saint of lost things?"
McVey - "Ya I can't find it."
(For all it's merits, "Belle" is not exactly a quotable movie.)

There needs to be a Blu-Ray version of this soon,
Brian

"Memphis Belle" through Lindsey's eyes:

So I'm writing the review for this WAY later. We watched this a couple of weeks ago and I'm the worst wife ever. I've been totally bringing this project down with my busy work schedule. I love how I read his review and thought, "This was the first movie we watched on our new TV?" That right there, shows how much movies mean to Brian and not so much to me. Brian helps me stay aware of the movie world.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I definitely appreciate it and I understand why people like it, but I was soooo incredibly stressed out the whole time. In a movie like that, I need to know what happens. I was too drawn into the characters that I just couldn't enjoy the movie because I was afraid of death. Gosh, I'm nervous in my heart just thinking back on that evening.

When I wasn't stressed out, I was trying to figure out where I had seen all the characters before. Goodness, there were a lot of familiar faces. While watching the movie, I inserted lines in my head from their past movies. "The Cutting Edge" guy yelled out "Toe Pick!" occasionally throughout the flight. Then the nerd from "Can't Buy Me Love" yelled out "Look, it's the African Ant Eater Ritual!" as they flew over their target. I've got to keep myself entertained when my mind wanders.

I would definitely recommend this movie and MAYBE I would like it more the second time, now that I know what I'm getting myself into.

"The Cutting Edge" may replace "Rockin with Judy Jetson" on my list,

Lindsey

Episode 13: L.A. Confidential

"L.A. Confidential" is a crime-thriller set in the 50s. It follows the detectives of the LAPD and the cast of characters that surround them. Every one of the characters, with the exception of Golden Boy Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), is dirty in some way, but the corruption of some exceeds all else. And that's kind of how "Confidential" goes: everyone is dirty and at times it turns into a circle of betrayal. Yet the characters (for the most part) are so likable and so smooth that you don't mind rooting for a dirty cop, just as long as he's not as dirty as the next one. In fact you kind of don't like the one clean cop because he's such a tool. Eventually, through some incredible investigate twists and turns (and one of my favorite "I'm dying but I'm going to trick the bad guy into outing himself to everyone else" scenes ever), the real bad guys are exposed and the good guys, though flawed, shine through. It is a stylish piece of film noir that is, in all honesty, fun to watch despite it's subject matter. (I really don't even know what "noir" means, I just feel like it's the type of description that a film like "Confidential" would garner.)

I have to commend Lindsey for sitting through this movie without falling asleep or playing Hearts on her iPhone. When I think of "Confidential" I think of how slick it is and how well it flows. It moves seamlessly from scene to scene, the settings are spectacular, and the dialogue stylishly works that classic 50s vocabulary without getting too bogged down. The performances by Pearce, Russell Crowe (before he was really Russell Crowe), Danny Devito, and especially Kevin Spacey are incredible; incredible enough to make an awful actress like Kim Basinger look so good that she even won an Oscar. But I forget how convoluted the story line is and how hard it can be to follow. I love that type of movie where you really have to pay attention to connect the dots, where you have to know all the character's names to understand what's happening. As long as it's an entertaining story, I am always in for that type of movie. Lindsey, on the other hand, is not. The fact that she was still awake when "Confidential" ended is a testament both to the movie's strength and Lindsey's commitment to this little experiment. (That is, this blog, not our marriage. :)) B+.

Best character: Jack Vincennes, Kevin Spacey
Not even close. Mid 90's Kevin Spacey is incredible (as we'll discuss when we get to "The Usual Suspects").

Best scene: The "Rolo Tamosi" scene
No spoilers here but when someone dies and utters the words, "Rolo Tamosi" to his killer, I kind of got chills the first time I saw it, knowing that those two little words would lead to the villains demise. Brilliant.

Best line:
Ed (after Bud hangs the District Attorney out a window to get a confession): "Was that how you used to run the good cop/bad cop?"

Russell Crowe owes his career to this movie,
Brian

"L.A. Confidential" through Lindsey's eyes:
I can see why people like this movie. It was interesting and entertaining, but I don't care to see it again. The only movies that I am willing to see over and over are comedies and horror/suspense. That is why this experiment is just a little dreadful at times. I would never pick out a movie like this. I'll sit through it, but the whole time, I'm ready for the ending so I can start talking again. It's just not my thing.

"L.A. Confidential" caught my attention because of the time period. If it was set modern day, I would have been incredibly bored. I love that 50s glamour. I also really loved the house that Kim Basinger lived in. I thought about that quite a bit during the movie. There were a set of curtains that draped in the middle of a doorway, very interesting decorating idea. Everything looked so elegant...for a Hooker House.

Brian was right, it was hard to follow at times. I whispered several questions to Brian when my mind came back from thinking about curtains and attempted to follow the movie. I liked how it all came together and it didn't make me too stressed. The ending wrapped up nicely and I only had a couple of questions once it was all over. Overall, it was pretty good for what it was. "Confidential" held my attention for about 75% of the movie.

Brian...I'm ready for a comedy,
Lindsey

Episode 12: "Can't Buy Me Love"

I apologize for the lateness of this review. We watched this a month ago and I'm just now taking the time to write. "Can't Buy Me Love" is one of my favorite childhood movies. Oh the plot is just perfect: cool high school teenage girl dates the nerd, so that he will pay for her fancy outfit that was ruined by wine. Seriously, every little girl dreams of being a cool high school teenage girl with a white suede bikini/mini skirt outfit. That Girl...is Cindy Mancini. She was captain of the cheer squad and the most popular girl in school. Cindy Mancini was my goal. Actually, in my heart, it's still my goal. Even though I am now an adult with a career, I still look up to That Girl. I will always admire that cute, popular, high school cheerleader.

Sadly, watching this movie with a bunch of adults, killed my love. It is definitely "made for tv" movie quality, along with most movies I adored as a kid. The whole entire crowd bashed this movie. They are still bashing it. Seriously, I was the only one who wasn't tortured. Where did all of those fans go? For so long, I couldn't find a girl around my age that didn't adore this movie. Even at my high school dances, my friends and I would set aside a song for the African Anteater Ritual. I needed the support of my fellow Cindy Mancini fans during this viewing. After watching "Can't Buy Me Love" with this crowd, my memories of this movie aren't all joyful.

I may be too sensitive for the critcism of this project after all,
Lindsey

I...I have very little to say about this movie. Seriously, readers, heed this warning: DO NOT watch this movie. I totally get why adolescent girls loved this movie growing up. I do. I understand everything Lindsey said about it. But trust me: absolutely NOTHING good can come from watching this if you are over the age of 12. I beg you to listen to me. There were at minimum two girls besides Lindsey in our viewing party who grew up loving this movie. And both of them were on suicide watch by the end of the night.

It is terrible. This is how terrible it is: Our friend, Laura Beth, was heading to Africa for a for a few weeks and we told her she could choose the movie we'd be watching since she was headed out of the country; it just had to be from Lindsey's list since it was her turn. When "Can't Buy Me Love" mercifully ended, I was kind of mad at Laura Beth for picking this thing. I know that makes no sense but that's how bad it was; it confused the "logic" portion of my brain with it's terribleness.

The most shocking thing about this movie is that two people involved with it actually have legitimate acting careers! Seth Green is featured in his really ugly youthfulness and has gone on to a funny, productive career (soon to be killed by appearing in the John Travolta Poo-Poo Special of the Year, "Old Dogs). And headlining-star Patrick Dempsey has managed to squeeze out a career despite having this trainwreck on his resume. That's the best or worst thing about Hollywood, however you want to look at it. If you're a good enough looking human, you will get multiple chances at this Showbiz thing. I guess that's the moral of the story. Or something like that. I'm not really sure because I'm still kind of messed up by the terribleness of this movie. F.

I bet Seth Green doesn't claim this movie,
Brian

Episode 11: "The Goonies"

When I questioned Lindsey to see which of my potential list-worthy movies she hadn't seen, "Top Gun" and "The Goonies" were 1 and 1a in terms of freaking out that she'd never seen them. Look, I know my wife. I know and understand why she hasn't seen "Tombstone" or "The Untouchables." And I know humans, so I know why she hasn't seen "The Legend of Bagger Vance" or "61*." But "The Goonies" is A.) an 80's classic, which she is (obviously) the master of and B.) a kids movie from the decade in which we were kids. I feel like pretty much every kid in America born between 1978and 1989 saw (and loved) "The Goonies."

Needless to say I was pretty excited about this one. I even busted out my "Goonies" t-shirt in the ultimate sign of nerdom. (Check that: even nerdier is the fact that at one point or another, I've owned a minimum of 3 "Goonies" related shirts. Boom. Roasted.) And after the absolute DEBACLE that was "Can't Buy Me Love" I was thrilled to see that no one went home disappointed in their movie viewing experience this time around.

From start to finish "The Goonies" is an adolescent males' checklist of Movie Awesomeness. A car chase. Comedic villains. A band of unlikely, underage heroes. A maze-like contraption designed to perform a mundane task. Pirates. Treasure. A fat kid with a funny scream. A retarded lummox who goes from scary to part of the family... You get the point. It's PERFECT.

Is "The Goonies" cheesy? Sure. Is the entire movie completely and totally over the top in every single way? Yup. Do we care? Absolutely not. "The Goonies" is such a classic that you even overlook the editing goof near the end in which Data references a scene that was cut from the final print because Steven Spielberg realized how truly terrible it was. "The Goonies" doesn't take itself too seriously, almost celebrates it's ridiculousness, and yet manages to throw in a TON of truly funny scenes, lines, and performances. There's just too much awesomeness to talk about here. Just get a copy and watch it again for yourself. A.

Best character: Everyone except for the girls. Seriously, who needs the girls in this thing? When I was a kid I couldn't figure out why they put up with the girls but now that I'm older...I still don't get it. They should have left those girls behind at the wishing well. They contributed NOTHING to the treasure hunt with the exception of idiotic screams and looking like Marcie from "The Peanuts." Stupid.

Best scene: The "torture" scene.
This is a no brainer. Chunk telling the Fratelli's everything he's ever done in his life, from pushing his sister down the stairs and blaming it on the dog to the culminating statement below, makes me cry from laughing every single time. Brilliant.

Best line:
Chunk: "But the worst thing I ever done: I mixed up a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, t-t-then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa. And then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, and this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life."

Also "Sloth love Chunk."

Do the Truffle Shuffle!
Brian

"The Goonies" through Lindsey's eyes:

Oh I have lots to say about this post. First, I have totally seen "The Goonies" before watching it with Brian. Brian insists that I hadn't seen it before because I wasn't obsessed with it. I couldn't really remember it too well to give all the details of the movie. "The Goonies" was one of those movies that came on Saturday afternoons on channel 27, after "Teen Witch" and before "Lucas." I never had much interest in the movie, so most of my attention went towards looking through my Tiger Beat magazine instead of watching the show. I'm not sure why I didn't care for it, because it totally seems like a movie that I would have loved. I guess there wasn't a cute boy and the girls were totally lame, so it got pushed to the side.

Speaking of the girls, WHO IN THE HECK DECIDED TO PUT THE GIRLS IN THIS MOVIE?!!!! UGH! Worst characters ever in a movie. OK that one girl with the short hair cut, totally looked like Anthony Michael Hall. I think it would be really funny to see that girl kiss Anthony Michael Hall, I don't think I would be able to tell them apart. It would look like he was kissing a mirror. Then the "pretty" girl was straight up annoying.

Finally, can you believe I married a guy that has owned THREE Goonies shirts? The ONE Goonies shirt is definitely not my favorite item of clothing in the closet. Man, when I found out that he had previously owned two before this one, I just about lost it. What a nerd ;) Well, I guess I have no room to talk. I have three bins filled with costumes in our closet.

"The Goonies" was my 4th favorite Nintendo game,
Lindsey

Episode 10: 61*

I have to believe "61*" is the least seen movie we'll be reviewing during the course of this endeavor. (With the possible exception of "Rockin' with Judy Jetson" which, unfortunately, I think Lindsey will have to cut from her list since apparently not even Hanna-Barbera has a copy available.) "61*" is a made-for-TV movie, even if it was done for HBO, that unfortunately just about everyone has missed out on.

This film, directed quite well by Billy Crystal, follows New York Yankee outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris during their famous home run battle. If you're unfamiliar with this story, in 1961 Maris and Mantle both had a shot at breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs in a season (60) and essentially chased each other for the entire season. Maris eventually became the champion, finishing the season with 61 home runs, which was the major league record until the Steroid Era brought Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds to the top of the list.

This is (from my understanding) an extremely faithful and accurate account of the events of that season and it makes for a highly enjoyable viewing experience. "61*" is not so much about the baseball action as it is the relationship between Maris and Mantle and the stress both players (particularly Maris) felt through the course of the season. Maris was completely trashed by the New York media and fans who wanted Mantle, the consummate Yankee who oozed charm and charisma, to be the one to set the record. The stress became so much that Maris actually started losing his hair. Yet despite this potentially awkward and contentious situation that the two men were thrust into, by all accounts they became very good friends on and off the field, even living together for a time.

"61*" is a wonderfully acted movie. Thomas Jane is absolutely PERFECT as Mantle and Barry Pepper brings just the right amount of emotion to Maris, a man who was often criticized for being too robotic. This really makes me sad for Pepper, who is one of my favorite actors who never gets a good role (Jane is another). Every time I watch this movie or "Saving Private Ryan" I am left to wonder what his career might have been like had he not been in the Worst-Movie-In-History-Candidate "Battlefield: Earth." I truly believe that took the wind out of the sails of his career, so to speak. *Sigh* Another career ruined by John Travolta. Someone really needs to stop that guy...

But I digress. I could seriously go on and on about this movie. It is my favorite sports movie of all time. I get Sports Tears every time I watch it and I truly enjoy the relationship between Mantle and Maris. For those of you who aren't into sports or sports movies, I would encourage you to watch the movie anyway and go into with an expectation of seeing a great Buddy Flick that happens to develop over the course of a baseball season. If it can make a lifelong Yankee hater root for a Yankee, it can make a non-sports fan like sports (at least for a couple of hours). A-.

Best character: Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane)
This is really a toss up because Pepper is fantastic as well. But I know more about Mantle and Jane's interpretation of the man is spot on.

Best scene: The curtain call
Call me a sucker, but the Curtain Call and Tip of the Hat in baseball is one of the coolest things in sports. After Maris hits number 61, his teammates force him back on to the field for the standing ovation from the crowd. This, along with his teammates ovation after he fails to hit 61 earlier in the season, definitely bring a Sports Tear to my Sports Eye.

Best line:
Mantle (after Maris hits home run number 59): "What happened? I was on the john."

I didn't even bother to see if I spelled "McGwire" correctly,
Brian

61* through Lindsey's eyes:

Since the beginning of our journey, I have NOT wanted to watch this movie.  I didn't know what the movie was based on, I just knew that it was a title with numbers only.  Titles that are pure numbers totally intimidate me and lose my interest.  If someone tells me to see,  lets say a movie called "47" and it is the best movie in the world, I would never see it.  Why in the heck would I see a title that just has numbers?!  That tells me nothing.  I'm the kind of person that picks up movies and books by looking at the title and cover.  It may be a terrible plan, but that's what I do.  Also, even though Brian hates this, I'm not going to refer to this movie with quotation marks around it.  I just can't bring myself to put quotes around numbers and an asterisk. 

Even though this movie title has numbers AND it's about sports, I really liked it.  I TOTALLY wasn't expecting it.  It really was more about the story of the players, rather than watching baseball.  I even cried, which actually doesn't say much.  I mean, you're looking at the girl who cried while viewing Home Alone for the first time. 

There are a handful of baseball movies that I've experienced in life, you know THE CLASSICS, "The Sandlot," "Little Big League," "Rookie of the Year," "Angels in the Outfield," "A League of their Own," etc.  This is hard to say, but I think 61* falls right under "The Sandlot" and slightly above "Rookie of the Year."  I know what you're thinking, how could an HBO-made-for-TV movie rise above the clever "Rookie of the Year" with that amazing pitching arm?  Well folks, I was surprised too, so you may have to just check it out for yourself.  Let me know your own ranking for those AMAZING baseball movies out there.  Overall, I was able to pay attention the whole movie and I didn't notice the time, so two thumbs up.

It's weird to look at Anthony Michael Hall as an adult,
Lindsey

Episode 9: "Sixteen Candles"

I love 80s movies. I just love the 80s, everything about it. I wish more than anything that I was a teenager during that period. So, of course, I'm a fan of "Sixteen Candles." Growing up, I had seen bits and pieces of it for a while, since it was always playing on TBS or TNT. I hadn't ever seen the whole thing on TV, which led me to my first "Sixteen Candles" rental.

When I turned 16, my BFF Kristen and her mom hosted an awesome slumber party at their house for my birthday. Like every great slumber party, we had great food and took a trip to Blockbuster for some slumber party rentals. I was so excited because this would be the day I finally watched "Sixteen Candles" AND it was my 16th birthday. Gosh, I thought this was a great idea. I was the only one.

That weekend, there was another big event that competed with my 16th celebration. "My Best Friend's Wedding" was released on VHS. Sure, I liked the movie ok, but I didn't love it like everyone else did. I didn't watch that scene with the people randomly singing at the dinner table over and over like most 15-16 year old girls. I didn't get the soundtrack so I could sing and dance to that dumb "Wishin and Hopin" song. I was either talked into renting it or someone bought it for me as a present, I can't quite remember. My great "Sixteen Candles" idea was quickly drowned by the hype of Julia Roberts. My "Sixteen Candles" experience on my 16th birthday was booed and "My Best Friend's Wedding" was shoved into the VCR.

I don't remember most of that party. I'm sure I had a great time and I know my friends were really great. The only thing that I can truly remember about turning 16 was hating "My Best Friend's Wedding" and realizing that most of my friends didn't care about the 80s like I did. I was a loner. I wasn't the popular kid at my own 16th birthday. I began to relate with Molly Ringwald and pouted a little. For MY 16th birthday, I didn't get a cute Jake Ryan like Molly, I got a pet fish that died by the time I opened my presents.

Jake Ryan is WAY out of her league,
Lindsey

So I've totally seen parts of "Sixteen Candles" about a dozen times in my life but I've never bothered to follow through with it. Also, I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that this is the movie that a certain youth minister who shall remain nameless tried to show us at some sort of gathering. It got turned off within 10 minutes, leading to a lot of, "I don't remember it being that bad!" comments. To be fair, I might have made the same mistake. How in the world this got a PG rating is beyond me. Somebody must have owed John Hughes a major favor. I'm pretty sure this is the film that led to the PG-13 rating.

Anyway, I've got to say I wasn't all that impressed by this movie. I have the feeling that two things have happened with this movie: 1.) it brings forth nostalgic feelings for anyone who saw this movie growing up and therefore has been made out to be better than it is. I know I'm guilty of this with movies like "Can't Hardly Wait" so it makes sense; 2.) because of point number one, "Sixteen Candles" has been grandfathered into a "classic" status that it maybe doesn't really deserve. This happens A LOT with comedies because people just remember laughing a lot when they were 16 or 18 and haven't stopped to think about whether or not it holds up. See also: "Animal House" and "Caddyshack."

Personally I'd probably be in the same boat with the rest of Lindsey's 16 year old friends: I'd rather watch "My Best Friend's Wedding." I think that it's a funnier movie quite honestly. Sure, Julia Roberts has been in my top 5 celebrity crushes since I was old enough to have a crush and was only recently bumped from number one status (Rachel McAdams). But really it's all about the characters. I don't love any of the characters in "Sixteen Candles" which is a HUGE letdown for me given how great Hughes was at creating characters in his other films. "Ferris Beuller," "Planes Trains and Automobiles" and "Home Alone" are a few of my all time favorite movies and the reason is that, between all the over the top ridiculousness, the characters are phenomenally appealing. I did not feel the same way about Samantha Baker or her wacky friends as I did about Kevin McAllister or Del Griffith. It's not a bad movie by any means and I had some laughs. But a classic it is not, at least for this guy. B-.

Best character: How about I just go with John Cusak's character just because I like John Cusak.

Best scene: The wedding scene.
The bride passing out all over the place was pretty funny.

Best line:
Ginny - "I really love Rudy. He is totally enamored of me. I mean, I've had other men love me before, but not for 6 months in a row."

Keep the change ya' filthy animals,
Brian

Episode 8: "Unbreakable"

There are two reasons why people don't like "Unbreakable." One, they don't like the ending or two, it's not like "The Sixth Sense." If you fall into category one, then OK, we can agree to disagree. If you fall into category two, I don't think we can be friends anymore.

"Unbreakable" was M. Night Shyamalan's less heralded follow up to the world beater that was "The Sixth Sense." Had it come out before "Sixth Sense" or been one of his later films, I think it would have garnered a little more success. Everyone wanted Shyamalan to replicate (or maybe even duplicate exactly) "Sixth Sense" and when he (shockingly, I know) made a movie that stood on its own and was in many ways different from "Sixth Sense," people revolted. Stupid.

The thing about Shyamalan's movies, though, is not the big twist at the end. He usually throws that in there to keep "Sixth Sense" fans mildly happy. His films are character studies and "Unbreakable" is no exception. There are only 4 real characters in this movie and he develops each of them methodically. Sure, one of them is a closet super hero and one of them is potentially crazy, but those facts are almost afterthoughts to the evolution of the characters and the intersections of their lives. What you have here are very real life issues (father-son relationship, husband-wife problems, mid life crisis) explored in the context of a man discovering that he essentially has super powers. The relationship between David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and his son Joseph is particularly well done.

"Unbreakable" is a fine film that deserves a second chance if you saw it in the context of, "This is going to be the next "Sixth Sense!"" You've got Bruce Willis at his best and Samuel L. Jackson before he went crazy. (Seriously, look at his post-2000 IMDB page and find the good.) Shyamalan's shots are, as always, BRILLIANT and his use of color is just as legendary here as it is in "Sixth Sense" and everything else he did up until "The Happening." It is an excellent precursor to the dark superhero movies that have become all the rage of late and highly underrated. B+.

On a side note, my DVD kept skipping so now I have a legit excuse to buy it on Blu-ray. There's a bright blue lining to every annoying DVD screw up.

Best character: Elijah Price, Samuel L. Jackson
It's not often that I compliment Jackson's acting anymore as he's become a walking parody of his former self. But here he is pitch perfect as the crazy comic book guy.

Best scene: Bruce Willis and his son lifting weights
Simple shots like this exemplify Shyamalan's brilliance. It just makes me wish he could do that consistently for the whole movie in his post-"Village" work.

Best quote: Audrey Dunn (Robin Wright Penn) - "No shooting friends, Joseph!"

I have two broken fingers right now so I guess I can't be Unbreakable,
Brian

"Unbreakable" through Lindsey's eyes:

"Unbreakable" is one movie on Brian's list that I've always wanted to see and I have no idea why I hadn't seen it before now. I love M. Night Shamalama movies. I even tried to like "The Happening." My Home Friends and I always make a big deal about seeing his movies. One time, we even stayed in a burning building, hoping that they would put the fire out, so we could see the midnight showing of one of his premieres. So, I was actually thrilled to see this one.

I was totally into the movie while we were watching. I was creeped out by the characters and I refused to let myself wander to discover the "surprise" ending. Then we got to the end, and well.... I definitely replied "That's it?" I liked the idea of the ending but I felt like I had just watched the end of a lawyer TV show or Unsolved Mysteries, where they type out on screen the happenings of the characters following that scene. As Brian likes to compare moments to, it was like an SNL skit. They just don't know how to wrap it up. So it ends with an awkward jig on camera.

All in all, I thought it was a good movie, I just needed five more minutes of wrapping up. I didn't need necessarily a bigger ending, I just needed more screen time, rather than the "Where are they now?" type-up like on "Intervention."

"It's like I'm walking on sunshine,"
Lindsey