Movie Weekend

In addition to seeing Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist on Friday, Manfrengensen and I watched two other movies on video, which is pretty amazing.  I can’t remember the last time we watched movies three nights in a row.

On Saturday night, we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I know I railed against this movie several posts ago, but I have to admit, that I hadn’t yet seen it.  I was basing my negative opinion on the reviews, specifically one that had been related by Manfrengensen’s younger brother, who almost never hates a movie.  We went in with low expectations.  And even then, we were disappointed.  It may have been worse than Pirates of the Caribbean 3.  It may even have been worse than National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.  The script of Crystal Skull was just plain awful.  The sound editing was amateurish.  The action sequences lacked any kind of spontaneity.  It was shot with lighting that almost made it look soft-focus, like they were trying to soften Harrison Ford’s age or something.  The lighting reminded us of something starring Cybill Shepherd.

The worst part of it (and that’s saying something, because it does star Shia LaBeouf….Shia “The Beef”) was the crystal skull itself.  I am in no way exaggerating when I tell you that this thing looked like a clear plastic alien skull that was filled with crumpled cellophane.  I could make that, you know what I’m saying?

For a vehicle so highly anticipated, so hyped, it was a really amateur production. And another thing:  there’s just too much CGI usage in today’s action movies.  This one was so obviously shot in front of green screens that it was painful to watch.  And the effects weren’t even worth that.  The effects were boring and silly.  Can’t stress this enough: Stay away from this movie!  You will never get those two-plus hours back.

Last night, we watched a really good movie on DVD called In Bruges, a small, indie film starring Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson.  It was funny. It was smart.  It was violent and yet bittersweet.  A fun find, and I think the best I have seen Colin Farrell in a long while. Just want to warn you though, there are f-bombs and c-words in this trailer: