A to Z Movies: Die Hard 4

Title:  Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard

Year Released/Rating: 2007 PG-13

Starring: Bruce Willis, Justine Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith

Directed By: Len Wiseman

Written By: Mark Bomback, David Marconi, John Carlin, Roderick Thorp

Star Rating:   4 /5 stars

Trivia: When introduced to an agent Johnson, McClane says: "Johnson, again?", a nod to the two agents Johnson in Die Hard, despite the fact that McClane and the two agents Johnson never spoke or met face to face.

J's choice tonight.  I was learning towards Dogma or Dark City.  He suggested Dave or Die Hard.  So we went with Die Hard.  It's been awhile since I've seen this installment.  Probably since it came out...  I'm almost always up for some good action film and this hit the spot.  I especially love Timothy Olyphant. He always play the creepy bad guy, but also the suave, could possibly be charming, bad guy.  Amazing!  And the stunts are fantastic.  The entire sequence in the refrigeration thing (towards the end) is just impossible.  And that guy, Rand, does almost all his stunts without wires.  That's just crazy!

Best Bits: 

Matt Farrell: You just killed a helicopter with a car! John McClane: I was out of bullets.

Matt Farrell:[to Lucy] Wow, I know that tone. It's just weird hearing it come from someone... with hair.

John McLane [covering the webcam] You think you can, uh, find a track where he is?

Thomas Gabriel: Detective, covering the camera with your hand does not turn off the microphone.

[after the presidential montage]

Casper:That was creepy.

Trey: I tried to find more Nixon.

Thomas Gabriel: McClane? I thought I killed you already.

John McClane:  I get that sometimes.

John McClane: I know I'm not as smart as you guys with all this computer shit. But, hey... I'm still alive, ain't I? I mean, you've *got* to be running out of bad guys by now, right? Huh? Gabriel? Honestly, you can tell me. I mean, how does that work? Got some kind of service or something? Some kind of 800 number? 1-800-HENCHMEN? Oh, you know what? I bet you're still on hold with, "Can I get another dead Asian hooker bitch over here right away?"

[from the unrated version]

Matt Farrell: You just killed a helicopter with a car!

John McClane: Hundreds of thousands of people get killed by cars every year. That's just like four more.

[after Lucy struggles and shoots Emerson in the foot]

Thomas Gabriel:  Jesus Christ. You got her? [Emerson nods]

Thomas Gabriel: You're sure? It's a nice effort, though.

A to Z Movies: Catch Me If You Can

Title: Catch Me If You Can

Year Released/Rating: 2002 PG-13

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tim Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams

Directed By: Steven Speilberg

Written By: Jeff Nathanson, Frank Abagnale Jr., Stan Redding

Star Rating:  5 /5 stars

Trivia: The blackboard that Carl Hanratty is writing on toward the end of the movie contains a small note at the bottom that says, "Steven and Tom's 4th project". Spielberg and Hanks had previously collaborated on Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, and Joe Versus the Volcano.

First of all, the introduction to this movie is amazing.  The shadowed graphics are amazing.  I love that this is based on a true story.  And that the real Frank Abagnale consulted the film to be the most accurate.  I loved it...  The relationship between Frank Sr. and Frank Jr. is just amazing.  Frank Sr. made some bad choices in his life, but he really loves his son.  I can't help but root for him.  And the entire movie Frank Jr. is really just trying to make his dad proud.  Usually these kinds of stories make me gag, but this one really works.  Maybe it's the story, maybe the characters, or maybe the actors, but it works for me.  Best scene of the movie--the first time that Hanratty and Abagnale meet in the hotel room.  I love the look on Hanratty's face when it starts to dawn on him that the Secret Service agent might not have been the Secret Service agent.  The look on his face is priceless!  J's rating: "It's the first movie since Romeo and Juliet that I can actually take Leonardo DiCaprio seriously."  Agreed!

Best Bits: 

Paula Abagnale:  Just tell me how much he owes and I'll pay you back. Carl Hanratty:  So far, it's about 1.3 million dollars.

Tom Fox: He doesn't have a passport. Carl Hanratty: For the last six months, he's gone to Harvard and Berkeley. I'm betting he can get a passport.

Frank Abagnale, Jr: Brenda, I don't want to lie to you anymore. All right? I'm not a doctor. I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer, or a Harvard graduate, or a Lutheran. Brenda, I ran away from home a year and a half ago when I was 16. Brenda Strong: Frank? Frank? You're not a Lutheran?

Frank Abagnale, Jr: [when Carl catches up to him in the print shop in Montrichard] Carl? Carl! Merry Christmas! How is it we're always talking on Christmas, Carl? Every Christmas, I'm talking to you! [laughs] Carl Hanratty: Put your shirt on, Frank. You're under arrest.

P.S. J and I had a discussion other day.  Is it just us or is White Collar what happens after Frank was caught by the FBI?  Just a great show!  He's got me addicted!

A to Z Movies: Bridget Jones's Diary

Title: Bridget Jones's Diary

Year Released/Rating: 2001 R

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent

Directed By: Sharon Maguire

Written By: Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies, and Richard Curis

Star Rating:  4 /5 stars

Trivia:  Salman Rushdie's cameo came about by total fluke. Old friend (the movie's author) Helen Fielding called him up and asked, "How would you like to make a fool of yourself?"

J had a migraine and I spent all day scrapping across town.  So, he spent some quiet, dark time in bed and I picked a movie all by myself.  After starting to read and failing to read so many BJD copies, I thought I would rewatch the movie.  All of my original ideas stood the test of time and rewatching.  Hugh Grant plays the most magnificent twat.  Renee Zellweger is still one of my least favorite actresses.  But that's okay because I adore everything that Colin Firth does.  Yes, the movie is a redone Pride and Prejudice, but that story is so great that I can forgive it.  I can even forgive Bridget's self-depreciating behaviors.  We all go through that phase at some point.  Thank god Mark Darcy is a rational steadfast man.  Plus, I get a kick out of the Tarts and Vicars party every time.

Best Bits: 

Bridget: This is an occasion for genuinely tiny knickers.

Bridget: Thank you, Daniel, that is very good to know. But if staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse.

Mark Darcy: I realize that when I met you at the turkey curry buffet, I was unforgivably rude, and wearing a reindeer jumper.

Bridget: It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.

Mark Darcy: Natasha, this is Bridget Jones. Bridget, this is Natasha. Bridget works in a publishing house and she used to play around naked in my paddling pool.

Mark Darcy: All right Cleaver, outside. Daniel Cleaver: [half laughing] I'm sorry? Outside? Should I bring my dueling pistols or my sword?

A to Z Movies: Accepted

Title: Accepted

Year Released/Rating: 2006 PG-13

Starring: Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Lewis Black,

Directed By: Steve Pink

Written By: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Mark Perez

Star Rating:  4 /5 stars

Trivia: Lewis Black's character says the word "fuck" twice, but one was literally bleeped out in order to make the movie PG-13.

We decided to continue our hilarious comedy streak with Accepted.  Well actually, J wanted either Alien or Accepted to which I insisted on Accepted.  Really wasn't in the mood for the awesome, but slow moving Alien.  I just love the witty back and forth dialogue.  That's what really gets me in comedies.  I want a bit of Grouch Marx in there.  I want lines you have to rewind to listen to again because they are just way too hilarious.  And this movie definitely delivers it.  The only reason I knocked off a star: it gets a little too feel-good towards the end.  I mean, come on, the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington speech at the end makes me seriously roll my eyes.  But other than that, I adore this move.  And the soundtrack is freaking awesome.  Ramones the Pixies!

Best Bits:

Sherman Schrader: Yeah, cool guys. Let's start this fake college, and then we'll go start a meth lab somewhere. Come on, it's a gateway crime. That's how these things start.

Bartleby Gaines: Listen guys, there are plenty of successful people who didn't go to college. Albert Einstein. You know? Pocahontas never went to college. Corey Feldman and Corey Haim; they had a great run. Both Lewis and Clark. Suzanne Somers. Bono.

Sherman Schrader: Who was that? Bartleby Gaines: Oh, that's our mascot Sherman Schrader: A sandwich? You're the SHIT Sandwiches?

Bartleby Gaines: Hey Shrad, do you know any places up near Harmon we can rent?

Sherman Schrader: Oh, yeah I do, actually. I carry around a list with me at all times of abandoned buildings for fake colleges.

Sherman Schrader: I don't want to be here alone when the walls start to bleed!

Sherman Schrader: It was your idea to put "acceptance is just one click away" Bartleby Gaines: Yeah, you put it as "one click away"! You don't make it... clickable!

Bartleby Gaines: Schrader, what about you? What do you want to learn? Sherman Schrader: Well, B, I'm glad you asked actually, 'cause since we're going to prison, I'm gonna learn how to carve a shank out of my toothbrush.

Abernathy: Hi there! What's your name? My name's Abernathy Darwin Dunlap but you can call me A.D.D. on the account of the fact that I have A.D.D., which is attention deficit disorder. You know - everyone used to think it was just an addiction to sugar when I was 6 and my mom used to cry because she thought I would never be like a fully functioning member of society like my neighbor who has Legionnaires' disease.

Bartleby Gaines: [waving and fake smiling at girls leaving in their yellow buggy] Hey! I hate my life. I'm a huge tool. Have fun being hot.

P.S. The best scene in the movie has to be the end shot of the car blowing up.  The looks on their faces are brilliant!

A to Z Movies: The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Title: The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Year Released/Rating: 2005 R

Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jane Lynch, Romany Malco, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Kat Dennings, and cameo by Jonah Hill

Directed By: Judd Apatow

Written By: Judd Apatow and Steve Carell

Star Rating: 5 /5 stars

Trivia: The "beautiful old Guatemalan love song" sung by Javier to Paula translates to: When I clean my room / I can't find anything / Where are you going in such a hurry/ To the soccer game.

Extra Trivia: The entire "You Know How I Know You're Gay" scene was improvised by Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen

For our first A to Z Movies choice, we went with The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  It was a tough decision.  Just in the #s alone, we have 10 movies.  I threw out a few choices, J threw out a few choices, and we were down to 300, 12 Monkeys, or The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  I went with the final decision and chose comedy.  And I'm so glad I did.  I forgot how amazingly funny this movie is.  Besides Steve Carell (who's definitely funny), we get Seth Rogen's amazing one-liners and Paul Rudd's unique sense of comedy.  I forgot all the side characters that really make this movie.  I think I laughed out loud the entire movie.  It's just too good.  This is Apatow at his best!  A great script, great directing (or nondirecting, since they improvised a ton), and amazingly funny actors.  I'm so glad we chose this as our first movie for the month.  Tonight: on to the As...

Some of my favorite bits:

Jay: [to Andy, in a bar] All you got to do is use your instincts. How do you think a lion knows to tackle a gazelle? It's written, it's a code written in his DNA, says, "Tackle the gazelle." And believe it or not, in every man there's a code written that says, "Tackle drunk bitches."

David: [the same Michael McDonald sampler DVD has been playing on all of the television screens for the last two years] If I have to hear "Yamo Be There" one more time, I'm going to "Yamo" burn this place to the ground.

Haziz: Do you know how I know you're gay? Because you are holding each other ever so gently.

Cal: [talking about Trish being a grandma] You should fuck her and then have her send you $12 on your birthday.

David: [to a shirtless Andy, who has an incredibly hairy chest] I love your sweater. Does that come in a V-neck?

Paula: [propositioning Andy to be her 'friend with benefits'] I'm very discreet... but I will haunt your dreams.

David: Dude, you look like a man-o-lantern.

Andy Stitzer: Is this shirt too yellow? Cal: No. [pause] Cal: Tell me, what's Curious George like in real life?

A to Z Movie Challenge Sept. 2011

Last night, J and I decided to watch a movie at the house.  Easy right... grab a movie off the shelf and watch.  Unfortunately when you have something like 1000 dvds that's not so simple.  We spent over 20 minutes debating, discussing, and finally settling on Pirate Radio (mainly because I wanted quirky comedy and hadn't seen it yet).  I've come to the conclusion that we have too many dvds to not watch.  Usually if we turn on the tv, we end up watching a tv show episode that we missed.  Or I try to catch up on series that I've started or were recommended to J.  We've all but stopped watching movies.  Hence, my September 2011 challenge --

That's right, 27 movies (numbers are their own category) in 30 days... in order of the alphabet.  I've going to watch movies from our collection starting with a number working my way to Z.  Each movie watched must be in my collection.  Each movie watched will be reviewed on my blog.  Each movie watched cannot be eligible for my participation in the Page to Screen challenge.

I'm excited about this.  A way to organize my movie viewing, much like I've tried to organize my reading with the reading challenges.  Look for the first movie on September 1st (or possible review appearing on September 2nd).  I'll be keeping track of my progress on the side and at the page at the top.

Wish me luck!