Medium Dawn Felagund of the Fountain

Jenni (digdigil) recommended that we see Children of Men, an adventure movie set in the not-too-distant future and so, at her request, I am reviewing it!

( Children of Men--Spoiler Warning! )

It is really no secret that Bobby and I are movie nuts. That one of our proudest moments was managing to see three movies in the space of a little over a day. We see on average a movie a week and see nearly everything that comes out in the fantasy and horror genres and a good mix beyond that.

I try to review all of the movies we see, but as my movie review tag indicates, I am sadly behind. (I have about a half-dozen reviews rotting in WordPad that I still need to post.) This year, I wanted to remember what movies I saw, which I liked, and which I hated. And which fell between. Two years ago, I hosted the w00t Awards, and I considered resurrecting that, but that was all full of drama the first time around and too hard to manage, so instead, Bobby and I will award our own private awards to the cinematic successes and failures of 2006.

(I'm pretty sure that I'm missing some. I reviewed the ticket stubs in my wallet, my 2006 movie reviews (sadly deficient), went through IMDB's "top" lists for 2006, scrolled each of IMDB's highest-grossing lists for 2006, and walked around the new-release wall in Blockbuster. Still, I suspect I'm missing some. Bah. Hope none were notably good or bad....)

For the record, we're only giving "awards" to those that we went to see in the theatre. We saw a good many more in DVD, but it would be simply impossible for me to attempt to list those as well.

( And the Winners/Losers Are.... )

( The Complete List )

Before I get down to business...

Happy birthday, frenchpony!!!

(I know you weren't around yesterday on your actual birthday, so hopefully you'll get my belated wishes!)

We've actually seen four movies recently, but I find it impossible to review comedies, and two of the four were comedies. Funny movies seem too...personal somehow. A lot of what is funny (or not) to a person depends on their experiences, and what I find funny as a twenty-four-year-old recent college graduate and liberal who likes to write and play with Elves is going to be very different from what a fifty-four-year-old male banker and Republican who likes golf and wine thinks is funny. And I'm no good at analyzing what makes comedy work or not. So I decided to leave those two movies alone.

For the record, they were Talladega Nights and Accepted. I liked Accepted the best--but naturally, having graduated from college recently and getting ready to go back, this "college comedy" genre appeals to me. (Never mind that I do tend to have a crude sense of humor.) Talladega Nights was pretty good too--probably the best that Will Ferrell has put out in a while, imho--but yet he doesn't make me laugh like he did on Saturday Night Live. I don't know why. He was my favorite on there, but most of his movies simply aren't that funny.

I give Accepted 3.33 E.L. Fudge "Elves Exist" cookies out of four, and Talladega Nights gets 2.75, both of which are fairly good scores.

Naturally, the two that I am going to fully review are horror/suspense movies. Pretend to be shocked.

Both reviews may contain spoiler stuff, so tread with care if you are planning to see these movies and want to be completely surprised.

( The Night Listener )

I am putting this part outside the cut for the benefit of my sister, since I don't know if she reads my movie reviews:

Sharon,
Do not see The Wicker Man. It includes as its premise an idea that--given your phobia--will cause you to not sleep well at night. If you want to know more, you can read the review, but I am keeping spoiler stuff under the cut.

But for the same reason that I told you not to see Silent Hill, you'll probably want to skip this one too.
~Your Loving Sister

( The Wicker Man )

Last Friday, Bobby and I needed a movie to see, and we ended up at The New World.

( 'Hey! We're making a Serious Movie (tm) here!'...The New World (*spoiler warning*) )

Then last night, Bobby and I wanted something silly and not requiring too much thought, and so we rented Waiting.

( Sad...but true. What REALLY goes on behind the lines at your favorite hometown restaurant. )

Lastly, before I stopped rambling and try to capitalize on my last hour of peace and quiet (alone!) here at the office, I am getting ready to start up a new character in my original fantasy RPG. He is three-quarters Elven (so he looks rather Elfy) and has just come of age, with brown hair and green eyes. (But the eyes aren't important, as even I can doctor them in Photoshop, I think.) I've yet to find a suitable picture for him, so if anyone knows of any cute, brown-haired Elfy-looking guys, I would be much obliged! They can be photos or drawings. Simply point me in the right direction, and I will handle it from there.