Blog Number 367

Greetings and welcome to today's random thought.

I have a few minutes before bedtime to catch up on a few more movie revies and recent false starts.

• (Old) All The King's Men - I actually forgot what this was about.  After reviewing the IMDB site I now remember that I kind of like parts of this film about a southern governor (set sometime in the mid 1900s I think).  It got horrible reviews but Sean Penn did a good job.  I don't necessarily recommend this movie, it was just OK.
  
• (Old) Along Came Polly - This was one of those comedies where all the funny parts were in the previews but the wife and I toughed it out.  I don't think I have ever seen one episode of Friends so my opinion of Jennifer Aniston is based on this movie and her small role in Office Space and Bruce Almighty (and now, but not at the time I watched this move, her role in The Break-Up).  I think she does comedy well (though I still am not tempted to watch Friends even though I liked Matthew Perry in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip").
  
• (Old) Amazing Grace - Excellent film (though I am a sucker for historic films).  This one is about the man who fought to abolish slavery in England in the 1800s.  I highly recommend this one.  He is a friend of the person who wrote the hymn with the same name as this movie (hence the movie title).
  
• (New) Horton Hears A Who - OK, another movie NOT in my A-Z order (and another one that I watched with the daughter whilst the son is away at camp).  Like most movies I watch, I did not read the book first.  It was about 30 minutes in before I remembered that both Jim Carey and Steve Carroll were doing the main voices (Horton the Elephant and the Mayor of Whoville).  They played the characters well but didn't add anythink unique.  Carol Burnette did a great job as the kangaroo though.  All in all a good movie and laugh out loud funny in places.
• (New) Bad News Bears - This is the remake with Billy Bob Thorton.  I only made it about 1/2 way before giving up (specifically 57 minutes).  The characters were almost exactly the same as was the storyline (other than having a kid in an automated wheelchair and the fact that the coach is an exterminator and not a pool service man).  Once they were ready to recruit Kelly Lee to play for the team I figured I had had enough.
• (New) An American Carol - This is rated PG-13 for "irreverent content" which is a reason I have never seen cited for this rating.  Leslie Nielson is in this one (along with a cameo by Gary Coleman).  This is like A Christmas Carol only the 3 spirits visit a documentary film maker (aka Scrooge) and make him rethink his attitudes about the 4th of July.  An interesting concept but I am a little past Airplane-like humor (ok, not really, but this was just no funny enough to move beyond minute 40 or so.

Well that is enough for now as it is bed time.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon