Category Archives: Movies

Pink Panther 2

Valentines Day 2009 – Sweetie and I took SuperPizzaBoy and his buddy Nick to see Pink Panther 2. Steve Martin steals the show in this entertaining movie which works both for both the parents and the kids. (Sweetie might disagree with me. Lily Tomlin has a cameo role where she tries to teach Inspector Cluseau about being politically correct so SPB and his buddy learned about “ogling women.” Tomlin does a great job describing what not to look for.)

Martin is over the top and I loved this movie. It has a great web site also complete with games and downloads.

I give this movie 2.5 stars out of 4.

Last Chance Harvey

Last Friday night, SuperPizzaBoy spent the night at a friend’s house so Sweetie and I were temporarily childless. So we went to the movies. Sweetie picked something I had not heard of, “Last Chance Harvey” a romantic comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.

I like Mr. Hoffman OK but I’m always up for anything Ms. Thompson does. She and Hoffman do not disappoint in this movie. It is a story about two older folks, (one of them a lot older) who have a lot of regrets and missed chances. Plus both of them have that irritating habit that many people have of taking all cell phone calls no matter what else is going on.

Hoffman plays an American “jingle composer” who always wanted to be a jazz pianist who travels to London for his estranged daughter’s wedding. Thompson plays an English lady of certain age who lives in London with her mother and works as an interviewer at an airport.

They meet and fall in love after overcoming some Anglo-American cultural differences. They suffer some setbacks but since they are both tired of missed chances they end up together.

I rate this movie 3.5 stars out of 4. I highly recommend seeing it if you like romantic comedies.

“Bedtime Stories” with Adam Sandler

I took the day off Friday so, Sweetie, SuperPizzaBoy, and I went to see Bedtime Stories. It has Adam Sandler, in a restrained performance (thanks Mr. Sandler), Teresa Palmer, and Keri Russell in a lightly romantic comedy – children’s movie – fantasy movie.

Sandler’s Character, Skeeter, is a hotel maintenance guy. He is taking care of his sister’s two children and he found out that the bedtime stories that he tells tells the children come true the next day. The complication is that the children enhance the stories in ways that lead to unanticipated results.

I had never heard SPB laugh so hard at a movie. I thought it was funny also and very entertaining.

So, another kids movie that the adults like. I rate it 3 stars out of 4.

Movie Review “Seven Pounds” SPOILER

Sweetie and I had a date night the other night. Dinner and a Movie. The movie was “Seven Pounds” with Will Smith and Rosario Dawson. In terms of the the quality of the movie including the acting, and judging in terms of what I think the movie wanted to do I give the movie a 3 out of 4. Will Smith does a god job and Rosario Dawson is fabulous. However, this is one miserable little movie and I suggest that you go see something else.

I have real big problems with the premise of the movie. Will Smith’s character, Ben Thomas caused an accident that killed seven people including his wife. So presumably to make up for that he arranges to commit suicide and donate his organs to seven people. These seven people though have to be good people and Ben Thomas is the sole determiner of what a good person is.

In doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. What about the context? The seven people who died surely had loved ones, relatives, friends, and coworkers who cared for them. Where is their redemption? They don’t get any, they just get one more person killed out of a tragedy. In fact they don’t exist at all as far as this movie is concerned. How is that for compassion? Isn’t there anything that Ben could do for the survivors?

From a Christian perspective I have huge trouble with this movie. How do you go about determining who is good and who is bad? What gives one the right to determine who lives and who dies? I know that on the wings we have Hitler and Mother Teresa. Most of us fall in the middle somewhere. Plus what about Ben Thomas’s soul. He is cutting and running, leaving everybody else to deal with it.

Their is nothing to learn from or enjoy with this movie.

Bluestone Steakhouse and Four Christmases

Saturday night we had a sitter for SuperPizzaBoy so Sweetie and I went out for a date. Dinner and a Movie.
For dinner we went to the Bluestone Steakhouse and Seafood Restaurant in south Tulsa at 101st and Sheridan. It is in a strip shopping center but the interior is very nicely done. That night they had a pianist playing which was a nice touch.
Sweetie had the Salmon Salad and I had one of the specials, the Ivory Tuna. The Salmon Salad featurd a huge portion of Salmon for only $12. Sweetie gave me a taste and it was great. The Tuna was very mild and fresh and cooked just right.
The service was very attentive. I had never been there before but we will be back.
Afterward we went to see The Four Christmases.
The movie has a great cast, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon play the leads, Robert Duvall, Kristin Chenowith, Sissy Spacek, Tim McGraw, and Dwight Yoakum are in supporting roles.
Vaughn and Witherspoon do a good job together. He goes over the top, as expected and she brings him back in. Many of the pieces of the movie are hilarious but the whole thing doesn’t hang together very well. The end especially doesn’t quite hang together. Overall though it is worth seeing. I give it 2.5 stars out of 4. Which is where 95% of romantic comedies end up.

Afterward we ran into Baloney and Doc in the lobby. Turned out they saw the same movie. We chatted a bit and then headed home.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa


On a very cold Saturday Sweetie and I took SuperPizzaBoy and his buddy AgentQ to see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

If you like the first one you will like this one. Singing, dancing, romance, reconciliation. The whole package. A kid movie that the parents like. What is better than that?

3.5 stars out of 4.

The Duchess

Date night Wednesday evening. Baby sitter for SuperPizzaBoy so Sweetie and I went off to Panera for a light dinner and conversation and then off to the movies to see The Dutchess.

Great movie, Ralph Fiennes plays a very sour Duke of Devonshire. Keira Knightly does a wonderful job as his teenage wife, Georgiana, the Dutchess of Devonshire. Charlotte Rampling plays Lady Spencer, the Duke’s live in Mistress.

As expected in a period movie the costuming and sets are wonderful. I couldn’t quite figure out where this movie was going but it turned out to be a very satisfying experience. I give it three stars out of four.

“The Women”

Friday night, SuperPizzaBoy had an overnight at his friend N’s house. So Sweetie and I had a date night. We went to see “The Women.” I had seen the trailers and thought it had the potential to be a great movie. After all it had a great cast: Meg Ryan, Annette Benning, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler, and Cloris Leachman, among others.
It is not really a Romantic Comedy it is more of a female buddy movie. It is about a group of women friends and their trials and tribulations. It is also about betrayal, and forgiveness. The move also talks about the price of success and making choices.
I loved this movie. The actresses do a great job. Meg Ryan especially gives a great performance. Candice Bergen plays her mother and almost steals the show. Bette Midler does great in her two scenes also.
I think that Meg Ryan does a wonderful job. This will go down as one of her classics like “Sleepless in Seattle” or “You’ve Got Mail.” She is just so cute and bubbly. She may be a real hag in real life but she is very likeable in her movies.
I give this movie a four out of four. It is a chick flick sure but it speaks to everybody and is very well done.

Vicky Christina Barcelona by Woody Allen – Movie Review


Last Friday SuperPizzaBoy had an overnight with his friend Q. So Sweetie and I had the night to ourselves. We decided to see a movie “Vicky Christina Barcelona” by Woody Allen.
The movie is about two friend Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlet Johansson) who are spending the summer in Barcelona, Spain with a distant relative of Vicky’s.

Vicky is engaged, studious, and stiff. Christina is a free spirit.

The meet up with an artist whose wife (Penelope Cruz) left him and the movie takes off from there in totally unexpected and surprising ways.

Woody Allen does a great job here. I finally forgive him for “Deconstructing Harry” that he made while he was marrying his daughter. (Hey, he’ll be held accountable for that soon enough.)

Sweetie and I both loved it. I give this a four out of four.

Mama Mia!

We had a sitter for SuperPizzaBoy. Sweeitie and I were going to go bike riding on the river but it was hot and I had already run 5 miles yesterday morning so we decided to cool off at the movies.

First, we were not hungry so we went to Starbucks for some cool drinks. She had a Frapaccino (aka “toxic waste with sugar”) and I had one of their new smoothies. It was chocolate but they had it mixed up with some stuff like protein powder. It tasted ok but I prefer to separate my junk food and healthy food. Mixing these two basic food groups messes up the flavor of the junk food, and is yet not all that healthy. But, hey, I drank it.

We went to see Mama Mia. I’ll make the obligatory comment that it is not as good as the musical. Nothing ever is, is the big secret.

That aside I liked the movie better than what the reviews led me to expect. It was entertaining. I recommend it to anyone.

3/4 of the way through the meeting Sweetie got her regular call from SPB. She let it go to voicemail. He calls her to say that he is worried about her and misses her and wants her to come home. It is kind of sweet, but he really is anxious. We play along, no use making a big deal out of it and at least he is learning to use hte phone.

Sweetie, spys and a friend of hers, we chat a little bit and go home and put the little guy to bed. Then we have snack for dinner.

Another marital date dow!