Movie 31 (this was way back at the end of April) was a Family Movie Night pick by my daughter. All of my kids have liked Scooby-Doo, but my five year old absolutely loves the show. So since we started letting her have a turn picking movies for Family Movie Night, we have watched a lot of Scooby-Doo DVDs.
Her pick was Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster. This one was one of the live action movies, although I believe it was made for cable, probably Cartoon Network. There wasn't great acting, but the actors weren't bad at keeping up the characters' well-established personality. The plot was about what you would expect from a Scooby-Doo movie. I don't know if the live action made it better or worse, but I remember the kids complaining they didn't see the computer generated Scooby enough.
Still, they seemed to enjoy it. I hesitated briefly about adding this to my movie list, but then I figured why not? If nothing else it is representative of the movies I often watch with the kids. Not one I'd recommend to anyone, unless you are a five year old with a Scooby obsession. I figure that is the target audience.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Movie 30
As I posted before, I watched the remake of True Grit in March. Towards the end of April, I checked the original out from my library. This is the one with John Wayne. I don't know that it was inherently better than the remake, but I know my Grandpa would have thought so. And it made me wish I was watching it with him.
I was a little surprised how closely the remake followed the original. Sure there were differences (the stereotyping of the Chinese shopkeeper in the original was blatant, but the Cogburn in the remake seemed more racist overall), but they were not wildly different.
Generally, I preferred John Wayne to Jeff Bridges (slightly), Hailee Steinfeld to the original's Kim Darby (by a long shot) and surprisingly I found it a toss up between Matt Damon and Glenn Campbell as La Boeuf. I liked the setting in the remake better than the original, it seemed grittier, more realistic. However, this may say more about the time periods when the movies were produced than how things really looked in the old West. If pressed, I'd have to say I enjoyed the remake more, but in the back of my mind I can hear my Grandpa disagreeing. Maybe it's just because I saw that one first.
Anyway, True Grit certainly qualifies as a classic in my book. I may need to read the novel now.
I was a little surprised how closely the remake followed the original. Sure there were differences (the stereotyping of the Chinese shopkeeper in the original was blatant, but the Cogburn in the remake seemed more racist overall), but they were not wildly different.
Generally, I preferred John Wayne to Jeff Bridges (slightly), Hailee Steinfeld to the original's Kim Darby (by a long shot) and surprisingly I found it a toss up between Matt Damon and Glenn Campbell as La Boeuf. I liked the setting in the remake better than the original, it seemed grittier, more realistic. However, this may say more about the time periods when the movies were produced than how things really looked in the old West. If pressed, I'd have to say I enjoyed the remake more, but in the back of my mind I can hear my Grandpa disagreeing. Maybe it's just because I saw that one first.
Anyway, True Grit certainly qualifies as a classic in my book. I may need to read the novel now.
Fiftyfifty Halfway Point
So last week marked the halfway point of the fiftyfifty.me challenge. I am right on pace with 25 books and 43 movies as of the end of June. I'll admit that I thought I'd be a little further along, with 26 books and 50 movies by this point, so I could finish with 52 books - a book a week - and 100 movies. But I really can't complain about where I'm at, especially with the kids out of school and demanding more attention. Not to mention our new addition to the family last May, Arissa Cate.
One thing I have fallen behind with is blog posts. I had an informal goal to post about each book and movie, if not a review, at least some mention of what I liked or didn't like. This is pretty typical of my past blogging and journal writing attempts, they stall after a few months. But in this case, as it wasn't necessarily part of the challenge, I am deciding not to be bothered by it. If one aspect of the challenge is going to lag, the blogging is what I'd prefer.
That said, I am going to attempt to get caught up this month. We'll see how that goes.
One thing I have fallen behind with is blog posts. I had an informal goal to post about each book and movie, if not a review, at least some mention of what I liked or didn't like. This is pretty typical of my past blogging and journal writing attempts, they stall after a few months. But in this case, as it wasn't necessarily part of the challenge, I am deciding not to be bothered by it. If one aspect of the challenge is going to lag, the blogging is what I'd prefer.
That said, I am going to attempt to get caught up this month. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
June List
Books:
23. Who Moved My Cheese? - nicest thing I can say is at least it was short.
24. How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities - some good information, but about as exciting as you would expect a economics book to be
25. Echo - Fun sci fi read in the Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt
Movies:
35. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
36. And Then There Were None
37. Puss in Boots
38. The Captains
39. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
40. Brave
41. The Avengers
42. The Secret of Moonacre
43. Real Steel
A little light on the reading this month, the economics book took a lot out of me. But I am still on track (halfway!). Plus I am in the middle of three more books at the moment, so looks good for July. I watched a lot of movies compared to last month, but I have to admit I thought I would be at fifty already at this point. Then I'd be shooting for 100 for the year.
23. Who Moved My Cheese? - nicest thing I can say is at least it was short.
24. How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities - some good information, but about as exciting as you would expect a economics book to be
25. Echo - Fun sci fi read in the Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt
Movies:
35. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
36. And Then There Were None
37. Puss in Boots
38. The Captains
39. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
40. Brave
41. The Avengers
42. The Secret of Moonacre
43. Real Steel
A little light on the reading this month, the economics book took a lot out of me. But I am still on track (halfway!). Plus I am in the middle of three more books at the moment, so looks good for July. I watched a lot of movies compared to last month, but I have to admit I thought I would be at fifty already at this point. Then I'd be shooting for 100 for the year.
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