Trailer for The Life Aquatic, the new Wes Anderson movie, starring Bill Murray.

Even though I'm a huge Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson fan, that looks even better than I thought it was going to be. A dream cast, too.

Garden State is great. It's just lovely, and funnier than I thought it would be. I'm talking bent-over laughing funny. It's indie without being too indie. It didn't blow my mind or anything, but it's just so simple and sweet and speaking for itself (most of the time...there's only one scene I might criticize as being too verbose and unsubtle, and even then, I wouldn't be too harsh at all). And I've never seen Natalie Portman play a character this weird, so it was nice to see some range from her. Also, the directing is wonderful, as is the soundtrack (Frou Frou at the end!).

about to go see Alien vs Predator i know, i know. but it's a tribute to my cousin who died a month ago today. it's all he talked about when he first saw the preview. i just hope i can stay awake. i took a tylenol with codeine in it about an hour and half ago. *snoooooooore*

also? P-C, i wanted you to know that after i saw your constant mentions of Frou Frou that i finally ordered the cd off of amazon and since i got it, it has not left my cd player. Imogen and Guy are amazing. so, thank you.

Went and saw Alien vs Predator this afternoon. Pete and I went in with low low expectations, so we didn't feel cheated. We mostly went "ooooh, Alien! Neat!" However, I'm pretty sure I could have done without bullet-time facehuggers. Giant floating spider-y things! Gah! And, when the pyramid started shifting rooms and re-arranging, all I could think of was Hellraiser, and kept wanting Pinhead to show up.

We saw a preview for Constantine. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I'm going to go re-read the small amount of Hellblazer trades that I have.

Simply because I didn't want to be the one to stay home alone, I saw Alien Vs. Predator, at least hoping that I'd be allowed to be snarky. No such luck. Also, we were sitting in about the 6th row. (Not by my choice.) Lots of the action was so fast and in such darkness, I had very little grasp on what was going on. By the end, I was mostly just hoping for a Sooper Seekrit Handshake between Lead Girl and Predator Dude. Something complex with lots of fists. I did call the last shot , though. I think it might have gained me some cred with the boys.

Oooh, Lilty, I wanted a Sooper Seekrit Handshake too.

Anybody familiar with You Can't Take It With You? I just saw it on TCM and came away far more annoyed than I should have.

It's a great film in many ways. Jimmy Stewart in his comfort zone as the straightforward young man. Lionel Barrymore as the lovable eccentric old coot. And so on.

But it felt like it went on about 20 minutes too long. It felt like the courtroom scene should have been the climax. Instead, the movie dragged on afterward.

Is the land deal subplot the problem? It takes up much of that 20 minutes, and it makes Edward Arnold the central character of the movie. And while Arnold plays a thankless role well (it's made painfully obvious in the first 2 minutes that, by '30s standards, he's the Economic Royalist bad guy), the film shouldn't focus on his character.

I haven't seen You Can't Take It With You in years, but I agree, it was a trifling fatiguing. I recall I had a violent urge to bitchslap the dancing sister. Don't even remember the land deal and a court scene. I'll take Mr. Smith Goes To Washington any day as my preferred Jean Arthur/Jimmy Stewart vehicle.

also? P-C, i wanted you to know that after i saw your constant mentions of Frou Frou that i finally ordered the cd off of amazon and since i got it, it has not left my cd player. Imogen and Guy are amazing. so, thank you.

Yay! That's so awesome. I hope their presence in Garden State brings them some much deserved recognition. And I want another CD. Now. Also, I should probably buy the CD at some point. My copy is burned.