I haven't been paying attention to my NetFlix queue and Constantine arrived yesterday. Is it any good? I'm trying to remember why I added it.

We just read the first Hellblazer collection in my bookclub (we're doing all first volumes of series this year). And my friends who'd read and loved the comics before and saw the movie when it came out said it was surprisingly good. They had very low expectations going in, given the casting and the reworking of the story but they really enjoyed it. And made me promise to put it at the top of my queue.

I thought it was kinda weird...half "Angel", half "Aliens"

The trick is to put the comic book John Constantine out of your mind if you're familiar with him. As an adaptation it's a horrible failure, but in its own right the movie is pretty good, just like David said above.

Well, Shia Lebeouf as Chas is abominable whether you're familiar or not, but he's more than made up for by Djimon Honsau and Tilda Swinton.

Djimon Honsau

Oh! I LOVE him. (And I know this will sound weird, but I've always thought he looks just like Brad Pitt. Or maybe Brad Pitt looks like him.)

Keanu was nobody's idea of John Constantine, but if you just watch the movie as its own entity, it works very well as a supernatural action flick. The effects are great, the story is interesting, the acting is good. There are some really strong, iconic visuals.

nods

As long as you keep telling yourself it has nothing to do with the comic, it's a fun movie. Plus, Tilda Swinton! Being menacing and bad-ass!

Or maybe Brad Pitt looks like him.

They share a certain wolfish stance and stare.

edit (nevermind that was Taye Diggs)

Saw Ratatouille, and Pixar could easily have gone lighter with the versimilitude, because I did find myself shuddering at the rat idea, and even at times where I think I was supposed to be buying the anthropomorphism instead.

Even with that, though, I have to rank it as an incredibly charming movie. Which makes two charming movies in two weeks (Waitress being last week's movie), and I need to see shit blow up next weekend.

I hope that doesn't mean Transformers. Or Die Hard IV.

Drew Goddard is writing a movie for Bad Robot (well, already written), to be produced by Abram and somebody else from Lost's production staff. Apparently teaser trailers go out with Transformers, even thought they haven't named it or got into production yet.

Saw Ratatouille, and Pixar could easily have gone lighter with the versimilitude, because I did find myself shuddering at the rat idea, and even at times where I think I was supposed to be buying the anthropomorphism instead.

When it was just Remy I didn't mind so much but once the whole colony entered the kitchen I found myself getting a tad squeamish, too. All in all, though, very charming and adorable film. I think, like Cars, this one will grow on me the more I watch it.

DH opted not to see it in theatres because he thinks he'll be watching it a thousand times once it's on DVD. Which is probably true.

I am Cashmere in here squemishness and apparently DH is her DH in options and predictions.

But to prove we are not complete one - note the wide age difference in our children and the fact that I saw the movie without either of mine.