Mel & Ray's Movie Reviews

Well we have looked high and low for good movies, just for you and just because we care.

Secret Life of Bees

Now, only I can rate this and that is, in part, my fault. I told Raleen she was not allowed to see the movie until she had read the book. The book is one of my favorites and just in case the movie botched it up, I didn't want her to see it without reading it. The good news is that this was a great movie and they did the book justice. The bad news is that because it did the book so much justice, it's deep and heavy and emotional and I can't see it again in the theater with her. I told her it should be on DVD soon and I just got a menacing look. But on to happier notes, this movie is excellently cast, with wonderful performances that truly brought the book to life. If you want a laugh out loud or action movie, this wouldn't be the choice for the evening. And in any event, none of you are allowed to see this either until you've read the book.
(hey, how did that picture get there..?)

Quantum of Solace

This is the only one in the bunch that we're not going to be able to give good marks to. And believe me, I thought this one was a lock. I have been looking forward to this one for months. I must have seen the preview trailer for this like 20 times, and everytime it would end with me saying, "Man I want to see that!" Imagine our disappointment when it turns out that someone had some great ideas for some really cool action sequences and thought about plot as an afterthought. I imagine the conversation with the movie studios went something like:

Screenwriter: "I've got these super sweet ideas for some action scenes in a James Bond movie!"
Movie Exec: "Really, what's it about?"

Screenwriter: "About?"

Movie Exec: "Yeah, the movie."
Screenwriter: "Oh, dude, right....well, I'll figure something out. But you should really see this car chase scene I have planned, it's intense!"

It was confusing and hard to follow, and once you did, it was weak and not coherent, almost like they believe the movie viewing public to all be idiots, and surely we won't notice if the story doesn't make sense as long as lots of things blow up and people talk all serious and intense. But hey, if you just like to go watch buildings explode and people fight in impossible situations and live to tell about it...don't let us stop you.



Australia

I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief that we can give this glowing reviews. Mr. Jackman did me proud. Like I've stated, we're not pro critics or anything, so our analysis would be that this movie was SO good. Yes, it's on the long side, 2 hrs. 45 min, and yes there are some elements that are a tad predictable but you just don't care. It's so compelling and so entertaining, you're just happy to be there. The characters and their story is fictional, but is happening at a real time in history. It happens in the same time period of the Japanese bombing of Darwin, not long after Pearl Harbor. It was interesting because I realized that I know American History, European History, Asian History (add the phrase "to an extent" to all of those) but I know next to nothing of Australian history. A stand out role was for sure newcomer, Brandon Walters, who plays a young Aboriginal boy. He will break your heart at times, he's so good.



Four Christmases

I had my expectations set to low with this one thinking that this is one of those holiday movies that could go either way. Would it be this raunchy joke fest set to a cliche formula or would it be a pleasant surprise full of fun characters and a witty plot? We have to say...it's the latter. It's been awhile since I've laughed that hard at a movie. I caught myself acting like those people that usually annoy me during movies. You know, when the joke is over but some idiot is still laughing away and you're all, "okay, we get it. It was funny. Enough already." Yeah. Totally me this time. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was highly entertaining and well worth your 9.50.



Twilight

I've given you my thoughts on Twilight, but in an effort to be fair, the series is too near and dear to my heart to give an unbiased rating. I told Raleen this one was on her. And her rating is...

Have fun at the movies!