Tag: Netflix Queue

On the eve of the World Cup, I watch my latest movie from Netflix, Shaolin Soccer. How fortuitous that it arrives at just this moment. I don’t think I had tried, but it happened.

I was laughing throughout this flick. Funny. And it was about soccer. A great sport to do a film on. The best bits were the friendly with the thugs, the ET reference, the high flying girls as guys soccer duo, and the Bruce Lee goalie. That guy even wore the suit from the Game of Death! Hilarious.

4 of 5 stars.

Go Team USA!

If you happen to peek at my Netflix queue, you’ll see a majority of foreign films. And when you think foreign films, you think of French cinema, chinese action flicks, and somber swedish films. But not too often do you think of Indian films. I can’t imagine why considering that Bollywood is the largest producer of movies in the world.

So, it is rather strange that I have yet to watch any movie from that country until now. I just finished watching Lagaan and was thoroughly pleased with the movie. It was a eye opener. And it was very enjoyable.

When I had opened the Netflix package and saw that it was a 4 hour epic. I was disheartened. When the film opened with what appears to be a love story plot, I was dreading the next three hours. I was wrong. And I am glad that I spent the previous two days to sit and watch the whole thing.

The story is convoluted. There was the love story. There was the plight of the downtrodden people plot. There was the forbidden love angle. There was the uprising of the people. There was the musical numbers. And there was cricket. Yes, cricket!

It was a mashup of many movies, yet it comes together to tell an amusing tale. There was the “Bad News Bears” theme where the ragtag team must come together and win. “Seven Samurai” echoed throughout the choosing of the team. I can’t believe that the sports theme can be found in many countries. Brilliant.

Also, it is true about Bollywood with the singing. The movie doesn’t get to a song until 25 minutes elapsed. I didn’t think the musical numbers would appear and then, the whole village began to sing. It was funny and wonderful at the same time.

4 of 5 stars

Just wrapped up watching 13 Going on 30. In my $0.02 summary, I said it was an “unbelievable story, but it sucks you in.”

First, it was hard to believe. For one thing, I don’t think a 13 year old in 1987 would’ve been dancing to Micheal Jackson’s Thriller. Didn’t that come out in 1982? She was a couple of years behind the curve. Perhaps the original writer placed it then, but then the movie wasn’t produced until later and the Thriller scenes were key so they kept it in. See. It is hard to believe that teen girls would still be interested in Micheal in 1987. It would’ve been better if they did Bad.

Second, it was hard to believe that the magazine would’ve wanted to do her idea. Especially, something so drastic. Plus, what demographic was Poise targetting? It looked like 16 magazine, yet that other girl’s other idea seemed to be targeted at young adults. Hunh?

Lastly, I get sucked into these remorseful, wistful stories. I always like looking back. I felt it right here. That thread keeps this movie from sinking to 2 stars. And Jennifer Garner was totally cute in it.

3 of 5 stars.

Do you believe in Serendipity? As I sit here trying to write up a review of the latest flick from my Netflix queue, I don’t know. Before sitting down, I thought that the movie stunk. If it is supposed to be a romantic comedy, there was nothing funny about it. There was really nothing romantic about it. John Cusack waits until the night of his wedding to realize that he doesn’t love his fiancee, attempts find the long lost love of his life, and dumps his fiance on the altar? Excuse me, but isn’t that the opposite of romance, but really terrible and heart breaking?

I couldn’t believe it, romance, what a lark!

But then the serendipitous moment occurred. Wasn’t yesterday Valentine’s day? I missed it again. Alone naturally. And guess who starred in the flick. Kate Beckinsale! A hottie! And guess what, there’s a nice, little, untitled post up on Capitol Swell celebrating the hotness of her. And our buddy at the seed, was inspired to do a hottie countdown/roundup from that post.

So you see how fortuitous things are. I watch a supposed romantic comedy the day after Valentine’s day alone, which starred the hottie who inspired my buddy to begin his hottie countdown!

How weird is that?

By the way, I marked the movie as 2 of 5 stars.

This is supposed to be a Netflix queue DVD review. Then, why’s it got a title referencing the VP’s accidental shooting? Well, the DVD that I saw over the weekend was Insomnia. Not the US remake, but the original Swedish (or Norwegian) film.

If you hadn’t seen it, the flick centers around an accidental shooting and cover up. Just like the VP, but someone dies. In the DVD.

I was roughly confused for the first part. I couldn’t tell Swedish from Norwegian. And that was a key part of the film. Yet, in the end I liked it.

Marked it as 3 of 5 stars. How convenient that the Netflix rating system matches my own.