Mel & Ray's Movie Review

Okay, so the name is still a work in progress. My friend Raleen came up with it, which surprises me a bit since she spends a lot of her time explaining that her name is pronounced (Ruh-leen) not (Ray-leen) but it is short and catchy and we'll probably go with it.
Most great things are born of desperation. Our late night movie runs are no exception. The origin of our late night movies started with text messages that resembled: Must get out. Need Diet Coke..what's open at 10:30..movies? Being night people and movie lovers who needed an outlet to unwind from our day-- late,week night movies were born. At first we were a bit unrefined. Just happy to see whatever was playing, rarely calling ahead, we saw the movie that was grossing like 3.3 mil and we would, more often than not, be the only people in the theater. We could openly critique and ask questions because, who else was there? Frequenting mostly on weekday nights we found out a few unknown facts about movie theaters and adapted accordingly.

1. Apparently on a Tuesday night at 10:20 they assume no one is coming, therefore it is no longer needful to run any sort of heater, even in winter. Anyone dumb enough to come now deserves to be frozen out.
2. Movie theater employees seem less than thrilled when people walk in at 10:30pm on a Thursday and start demanding hot nachos.
3. Concession prices for food are ridiculous no matter what time you go.
4. Surprisingly, no one says anything to you if you come in wearing things that closely resemble pajamas and carrying blankets.

While we both share a love of movies, we are very different movie watchers. Where Raleen is practical, I tend to give movies lots of allowances and stretches of the imagination. Also, Raleen likes to figure out the end of the movie within the first few frames and is constantly thinking ahead where as I tend to live moment to moment, never seeing anything coming. She is usually whispering, "Now, I bet you it's really that guy who is bad, and he's going to end up ripping everyone off." I usually respond with, "Huh? Yeah, hmm, I don't know, maybe." She is usually right in the end.
Since movie tickets are close in price to a tank of gas nowadays, we thought a movie review at random times might be helpful. Take it all with a grain of salt. We are both amature reviewers/critics. And while we are not well schooled in what actually makes a good or bad movie like the pros, we represent more the typical movie goer and can just say if we enjoyed it or not.


This Woody Allen movie, Vicky Christina Barcelona started off great! I did think Raleen's favorite actor Gerard Butler was the main character, told her as much, and got the evil eye when it turns out it was Javier Bardem. Javier, Gerard, it was an honest mistake! From the opening scene, I just thought it was smart directing, smart script, and really well acted. I settled in for a highly entertaining and complete departure of a movie. That was the first 45 minutes. Then the movie took a turn for the bizarre. None of the characters seemed to be moving or reacting in the way that had been built up to during the first half. (Well, except Penelope Cruz. She was crazy from start to finish.) You could almost forgive the bizarreness if it had ended well. And if you are cool with no one getting the guy and everyone ending up lonely and miserable, by all means, give it a chance. (2 and a half stars.)
I was totally pulled into this one by the trailer. And if raindrops were gumdrops, and trailers were movies, we'd all be happy. This had potential for being great, but it fell short by a lot. I did enjoy the performance of Guy Pierce. He's a bit odd looking for me, and he'll forever be Fernand Mondego from Count of Monte Cristo, but did a great job with acting and kept the audience in the loop the best he could with what was going on. The movie was walking this line of trying to convey a devout Muslim and his faith in a character that was a friend and confidant to the extremists.It could have been a riveting and educational contrast. What you got in the end was a disjointed, sometimes confusing, long movie that ultimately didn't leave you feeling satisfied that you learned something or were entertained. (2 stars)

Our amature status really shines here because all I can say is, this movie was AWESOME! I saw it for the fist time during my family reunion and in the company of my super knowledgable cousin Alan. I therefore got to sound like a genius when I saw it for a second time with Raleen. She spent a good amount of the movie with the aforementioned blanket over her face and me yelling at her that she was going to miss important parts and to stop being such a girl. The acting of Heath Ledger alone is worth your 9 dollars. He pulls off sadistic and hilarious so well you don't know if you should cringe or laugh. The script is smart, the pacing is amazing and well directed. I enjoyed myself from beginning to end, and Raleen enjoyed the parts she saw. (4 stars)
Mamma Mia? Oh mamma sita! Let me start off by saying that I have seen it once, and Raleen has seen it 3 times and plans on dragging me to the newly released sing along version. If there are levels to hell, I believe one of the doors will be labeled "Mamma Mia: Sing along version. But I digress...I love musicals, could watch them all day long if I had no other responsibilities or demands on my time. That's why I think this lost some of its appeal for me on the big screen. The music is FANTASTIC and I actually think I could cross over to the loved it side if not for the awkward and sometimes forced performances of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. Watching them always made me cringe and just wanted it to stop. To top off the healthy dose of awkward, they ended it with a career ending musical routine in 70's spandex and glitter during the credits. The awfulness has been burned in my retinas and I see it even though I don't want to. The other actors seemed to fit the bill and I enjoyed them very much. To be fair and equal because I know I am skating on thin ice starting off this review in a negative light, Raleen LOVED this movie. Her cell phone ring is now mamma mia, her 6 year old son knows most of the soundtrack as she plays it most of the day, and she is planning on seeing it a 4th time. While she conceded to Pierce's awkward singing, she thought Meryl was fantastic. Bottom line, you will have to decided for yourself. (Me-3 stars, Raleen-10)

If you have read the books then I would wait till this comes out on video and even then watch it knowing that it won't measure up. If I sound bitter, I suppose I am a little. These books are really great, and the first movie was such a great tribute to them. This second movie tries to squish the last 3 books together and I think in doing so left Sisterhood book fans feeling a little flat. They pull it off in parts, and it's even funny and charming at times, but it felt like in the interest of time they didn't explain certain storylines well, and cut out important chunks. Like I said earlier, it would be a fairly good rental and by skipping the theater you bypass seeing it with obnoxious 14 year olds. 2.5 stars

Well, that concludes the first Mel & Ray Movie Review, hope it was helpful. Two really great movies on DVD right now are Penelope and Dan in Real Life and not sure if it's on video yet, but Iron Man was another favorite. (Should review that one to give it justice). Totally worth being on your Netflicks list. Let us know if you want any others reviewed and by all means if you disagree with our opinion please share that as well. There is fun in healthy controversy! So where there's Diet Coke and a freezing cold theater on a Thursday at 11, we'll be there, watching the good, the bad and the rentable.