The Silver Screen

I've read a few books since I last updated, but it's been too long since I listed movies & DVDs I've watched, so the books will wait until next week.

• Spider-Man 3. Too many villains, too much plot for one movie, too many cheap jokes. This was a mess.
  
• Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. This movie moves. It has to. There's just so much in the book that the filmmakers can't stop to explain anything. It seems reasonable to assume that anybody watching this movie will have seen the previous three (and it'd probably be a reasonably safe bet that they have read the books too), so the lack of exposition doesn't bother me.
  
• Cry Baby. John Waters.
  
• Myster Science Theater 3000: Cave Dwellers. There is a certain joy in watching awful movies.
  
• Psycho. There is a different joy in watching excellent movies.
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Better than the second movie, but still too far over the top. When it comes to action sequences, there's a fine line between awesome & completely ridiculous. It's clear that the people who made these movies have no idea where that line is. Still, it was entertaining enough.
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is the 6-episode BBC series from the early 80's. Excellently done, even with a small budget. Some great performances, particularly by Simon Jones as Arthur, Steven Moore as Marvin, and Peter Jones as The Book.
  
• The Prestige. This was really good. We were both really impressed with it. Teena has read the book and knew what was coming, and she was still blown away. Highly recommended.
  
• The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season. Unless we can fine excellent prices, this will be the latest Simpsons season we will be buying. The show's still good, but it has definitely entered its long, slow decline.
  
• Ratatouille. Very enjoyable, but not really a kid's movie. At least, not a young kid's movie. We saw this with our niece, and, while she was very well-behaved, it didn't hold her attention all that well. Cooking just isn't visually interesting enough to fascinate a six-year-old.
  
• MST3K: Pod People. Excruciating attempt to cash in on the popularity of E.T.
  
• The Tempest. This is the excellent production we saw in Ashland. I guess this doesn't belong on a list of movies I've seen, but it sorta fits.
  
• MST3K: Hobgoblins. Excruciating attempt to cash in on the popularity of Gremlins.