I also recently watched Mindhunters, which was supposed to take place near the Outer Banks of North Carolina (even though the movie was actually filmed in the Netherlands). I’ve never been to the Outer Banks, but have been considering taking a family vacation there at some point, so it was still neat to get the reference there.

And I don’t know why, but I do tend to like movies a bit more when they have that touch of familiarity about them. Heck, I even like Home Alone because the main house is in Winnetka, which is not too far away from here. What can I say, I’m easy to please!

• The Departed
• The Queen
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Babel
• Letters from Iwo Jima

So, how many of those have you seen? I’ve only seen one, The Departed, and thought it was very good. It’s not unusual for me not to be familiar with Oscar nominees because I rarely get a chance to watch movies while they’re in the theater, so it often takes me a long time to get around to seeing recent releases.

I’ve heard some great things about Babel and Letters from Iwo Jima, but am not very familiar with the other two nominees.

I just read a very good article about the Oscars and how the voters don’t usually go for the “edgy” stuff. I completely agree with the author about that one.

I used to love watching the Oscars. I’m a huge movie fan and always looked forward to the event. But recently, I’ve been turned off because I don’t agree with the voters’ choices and don’t want to waste my time anymore (when, oh when are they going to change the program to cut out the stupid musical numbers and shorten the damn thing???). Plus, with Crash beating out Brokeback Mountain, I see no reason to take the awards seriously.

1. The Silence of the Lambs — This is the first movie that truly freaked me out.
2. Sunset Blvd. — I usually don’t go for old movies, but I was immediately drawn into this one.
3. Se7en — Had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
4. A Few Good Men — I’m not sure why, but I never get tired of watching this movie.
5. Forrest Gump — Another movie I can watch over and over again.

Looks like almost everyone has been tagged already….

Edit: I’m tagging sewcute!!!

We caught a matinee showing of the latest 007 movie, Casino Royale, at the the local cinema. I really liked that movie and will be posting a full review of it over on my Reviews and More blog, so please check it out over there in a couple of hours!

I’m really interested to see how they’ll handle the aging of the main character. Harrison Ford is 62 now, so it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect him to pull off the kinds of stunts that filled the first three installments. From what I read, the newest film is going to be more of a “character piece.” I can’t wait to see how this turns out!

(Photo from thealmightyguru.com)

The movie was from the Farrelly brothers, who also did Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, and Me, Myself, & Irene. Unlike those other films, Fever Pitch isn’t exactly a “belly laugh” kind of movie. It does have some funny moments and I laughed out loud a couple of times, but it wasn’t a comedic romp or whatever. Overall, it was cute and likable — an entertaining movie to watch when you feel like spending an evening at home.