Movie Time

Live Free or Die Hard: Bruce Willis kicks ass, everybody is witty (Willis and the bad guy), stuff blows up, Bruce Willis kicks even more ass, everybody is seriously hilarious (Justin Long and McLane's daughter), and all kinds of shit blows up. Whoever was involved with this knows how to make a freaking summer blockbuster that doesn't suck. Also, props to them for not making McLane's daughter a lame damsel in distress when she gets kidnapped and for "Okay. You're gonna have to dig deep inside yourself and grow some bigger balls." So many other good lines, though. This movie rules. GO SEE IT. That is all.

All About Eve: Nominated for fourteen Oscars for a reason, let me tell you. Bette Davis is the deliciously nasty, completely empathetic drunk whose slighted Margo wins you over almost immediately. Anne Baxter is a crazy, crazy, CRAZY bitch who's deceptively trying to take Margo's place in life. The movie's about Broadway, which rings a bit false, but the dialogue pops and Baxter, Davis, and George Sanders bring complete depth to their characters. The film gets you totally involved, you're actively hoping that Eve fails but at the same time totally impressed with how awful she is.

Roman Holiday: I love Audrey Hepburn. She basically embodies what I perceive to be class and charm. However, I have yet to see a movie where I like her leading man; Bogart's too old for her in Sabrina (though Holden is a good match), Prepard's too old/serious/stiff/creepy in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Gregory Peck's blandness in this film is overwhelming. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that Audrey Hepburn probably had chemistry with a telephone pole and so producers thought they could cast any big name opposite her and it would work. I need to watch Charade again, though, because I think Cary Grant might do the trick. Anyway, this movie, which introduced Hepburn, contains too little Hepburn; the beginning's great but it lags as Peck becomes the central character. The film didn't engage very much, though I will say that a charming European princess was the perfect role for Hepburn.

Ratatouille: I might need to see this again because I was exhausted and we saw it at 10, so I wasn't really feeling kind towards the world. Here's the first impression: Really good, but not I-Rant-and-Rave-About-It-Fantastic; better than Monsters Inc., not as good as Finding Nemo or The Incredibles. At the end of it all, I couldn't really get over the rats in the kitchen- with the exception of the main character, Remy, because he looked like a really, really clean, tiny, fluffy rat that would probably wear socks and mittens if you asked him nicely. The animation was absolutely gorgeous, however, and the music was a great balance of cheesy Parisian cliches and well-placed score. The rats, though. I really don't like rodents.