Life is too short to read a bad book.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006,6:35 PM
Movie Rental Weekend
An American Haunting:
Plot Summary: The wind whispers ominous warnings of death before a malevolent entity arrives to claim the life of a young girl as director Courtney Solomon brings author Brent Monahan's chilling, fact-based tale of supernatural murder to the screen in this tale of terror starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. The year was 1818 and the Bell family was a quiet clan residing on a remote farm in Red River, Tennessee. A normal, loving family by all accounts, the uneventful lives of the Bell family began to take a dark turn when strange noises around the farm preceded the arrival of a black wolf with piercing yellow eyes said to strike unspeakable fear into the very soul of all who encounter it. As the sadistic spirit singles out the youngest daughter of the Bell family for torment and her frightened parents search frantically for a rational explanation to the chilling events unfolding in their once happy home, an eerie, disembodied voice promises death from beyond the grave. With the struggle rapidly turning violent and the Bell's desperate prayers for mercy going unanswered time and again, the shocking murder that followed would prove the only case in recorded American history where the death of a human being was directly attributed to an attack by an evil entity or spirit.
I’m always up for a good ghost story. I love Donald Sutherland. I love Sissy Spacek. And the whole time I was watching the movie I was thinking the Professor guy was kinda cute. I liked this one. Until the ending. Then I didn’t really like it anymore. The ending spoiled the whole movie for me.
Over the Hedge:
Plot Summary: A group of feisty forest critters awaken following the winter freeze to discover that not only has a new neighborhood cropped up during the cold months, but living in close proximity to humans may have its benefits in this computer-animated comedy-adventure for all ages featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, Avril Lavigne, Eugene Levy, and William Shatner. Despite Verne the Turtle's (Garry Shandling) initial hesitance to breach the formidable foliage that has appeared on his doorstep since last fall, the arrival of fearless raccoon RJ (Willis) and revelation that their new human neighbors throw out enough food in one day to feed a whole forest lead the gang to consider taking the plunge and exploring the snack-filled suburbs. As Verne and RJ learn to work together in taking on their strange new surroundings, Stella the Skunk (Sykes), Hammy the Squirrel (Carrel), Heather the Opossum (Lavigne), and Heather's father, Ozzie (Shatner), join in on the fun by scavenging for Girl Scout cookies and attempting to scuttle past the pesky new suburbanites undetected.
This one was cute. Kiddo wanted to see this one. What can I say ~ I love Bruce Willis.
A Prairie Home Companion::
Plot Summary: Acclaimed filmmaker Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Nashville) brings National Public Radio stalwart Garrison Keillor's long-running radio program to vivid life on the big screen in a intricately woven backstage fable centering on the final performance of a fictionalized version of his variety show. As if the result of some strange mass-media fluke, the popular radio program A Prairie Home Companion somehow managed to survive the television age to entertain its audience every Saturday night from the stage of the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, MN. Week after week, hangdog host Garrison Keillor serves as unflappable emcee to an amiable hodgepodge of radio-friendly acts that include the likes of popular country duo Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) and singing cowboys the Old Trailhands (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly). This is one show where the under-the-line antics are nearly as entertaining as the program itself, though, and in between the efforts of down-on-his-luck private dick and backstage doorkeeper Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) to discover the true identity of a mysterious blonde (Virginia Madsen) and aspiring teen singer Lola (Lindsay Lohan) to find her true voice before a live audience, there's still plenty of fun and mystery to be had at the old Fitzgerald before the final curtain falls on A Prairie Home Companion.
I really enjoyed this one. I have lots of family in Minnesota so this was a sentimental one for me. Usually I don’t like Robert Altman films but this one actually made sense to me. I’d recommend it. Oh ~ and I also love variety shows like this.
discover your jack-o-lantern face @ quiz me
Plot Summary: The wind whispers ominous warnings of death before a malevolent entity arrives to claim the life of a young girl as director Courtney Solomon brings author Brent Monahan's chilling, fact-based tale of supernatural murder to the screen in this tale of terror starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. The year was 1818 and the Bell family was a quiet clan residing on a remote farm in Red River, Tennessee. A normal, loving family by all accounts, the uneventful lives of the Bell family began to take a dark turn when strange noises around the farm preceded the arrival of a black wolf with piercing yellow eyes said to strike unspeakable fear into the very soul of all who encounter it. As the sadistic spirit singles out the youngest daughter of the Bell family for torment and her frightened parents search frantically for a rational explanation to the chilling events unfolding in their once happy home, an eerie, disembodied voice promises death from beyond the grave. With the struggle rapidly turning violent and the Bell's desperate prayers for mercy going unanswered time and again, the shocking murder that followed would prove the only case in recorded American history where the death of a human being was directly attributed to an attack by an evil entity or spirit.I’m always up for a good ghost story. I love Donald Sutherland. I love Sissy Spacek. And the whole time I was watching the movie I was thinking the Professor guy was kinda cute. I liked this one. Until the ending. Then I didn’t really like it anymore. The ending spoiled the whole movie for me.
Over the Hedge:
Plot Summary: A group of feisty forest critters awaken following the winter freeze to discover that not only has a new neighborhood cropped up during the cold months, but living in close proximity to humans may have its benefits in this computer-animated comedy-adventure for all ages featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, Avril Lavigne, Eugene Levy, and William Shatner. Despite Verne the Turtle's (Garry Shandling) initial hesitance to breach the formidable foliage that has appeared on his doorstep since last fall, the arrival of fearless raccoon RJ (Willis) and revelation that their new human neighbors throw out enough food in one day to feed a whole forest lead the gang to consider taking the plunge and exploring the snack-filled suburbs. As Verne and RJ learn to work together in taking on their strange new surroundings, Stella the Skunk (Sykes), Hammy the Squirrel (Carrel), Heather the Opossum (Lavigne), and Heather's father, Ozzie (Shatner), join in on the fun by scavenging for Girl Scout cookies and attempting to scuttle past the pesky new suburbanites undetected.This one was cute. Kiddo wanted to see this one. What can I say ~ I love Bruce Willis.
A Prairie Home Companion::
Plot Summary: Acclaimed filmmaker Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Nashville) brings National Public Radio stalwart Garrison Keillor's long-running radio program to vivid life on the big screen in a intricately woven backstage fable centering on the final performance of a fictionalized version of his variety show. As if the result of some strange mass-media fluke, the popular radio program A Prairie Home Companion somehow managed to survive the television age to entertain its audience every Saturday night from the stage of the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, MN. Week after week, hangdog host Garrison Keillor serves as unflappable emcee to an amiable hodgepodge of radio-friendly acts that include the likes of popular country duo Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) and singing cowboys the Old Trailhands (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly). This is one show where the under-the-line antics are nearly as entertaining as the program itself, though, and in between the efforts of down-on-his-luck private dick and backstage doorkeeper Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) to discover the true identity of a mysterious blonde (Virginia Madsen) and aspiring teen singer Lola (Lindsay Lohan) to find her true voice before a live audience, there's still plenty of fun and mystery to be had at the old Fitzgerald before the final curtain falls on A Prairie Home Companion.I really enjoyed this one. I have lots of family in Minnesota so this was a sentimental one for me. Usually I don’t like Robert Altman films but this one actually made sense to me. I’d recommend it. Oh ~ and I also love variety shows like this.
discover your jack-o-lantern face @ quiz me
Labels: Movies
posted by Dev 
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7 Comments:
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At 7:54 AM,
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Izzy ~ The father was abusing the daughter. It sickened me and ruined the whole thing.
Cindy ~ You can always try :-)
Rosie ~ You're welcome. I'm not much of a horror movie buff, but I do like movies that play with my head. I'd take a good psychological scare over a gorey movie anyday.
Ames ~ Exactly! That's why the whole movie got ruined for me. Ticked me off. I haven't seen Open Season yet ~ I'm sure kiddo will want to see that one at some point.
Jen ~ It was a big waste of money. I haven't been that disappointed in a movie in a long, long time.
Zeek ~ I really liked Prairie Home Companion ~ I love variety shows like that. I've never heard it on NPR but I may have to tune in this weekend.
What happened in the ending of American Haunting? I'm a spoiler hoe. I need to know and I don't watch scary movies. But i'm curious now. :)
I have Over the Hedge on my netflix list. :)