A Life Aquatic, Spanglish, Meet the Fockers...

Tue Dec 28 2004 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

wtf?

I've seen three movies so far this winter break, and enjoyed each of them more than I expected (starting with the best):

A Life Aquatic - This is the latest Wes Anderson film, and it looks like that he's getting all the resources he needs to produce a really entertaining, luxurious flick. I mean it when I say luxurious... from the production to photography to props, this film is a joy to watch and it would be hard to find anything disappointing about it. I found myself trying my best to notice all the little details in each shot, but it's impossible with such a cool, unpredictable plot. There's no pandering to the reality police in this movie, much is done with full recognizance that the plot and characters are completely separated from reality. Which is why this film is so good: it's not attempting to tell a real story, rather it seems like one of your most lucid, best dreams made into a movie.
Spanglish - Adam Sandler can act! And he's pretty damn good! This film was a really neat mix of Mexican and American culture and values... and the underlying theme, that of amorous distractions while one is in a committed relationship, is really powerful. And it's about damn time that Paz Vega got on the American big screen... she's super-hot and súper-española.
Meet the Fockers - I'm a sucker for low-brow movies... I liked Meet the Parents and this sequel was a pretty good follow-up (although I'd wait for it to come out on DVD). Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman we're really good in this flick. You'll be saying, "But honey, I'm really in the mood for a chimichanga!" for a while (where "chimichanga" is pronounced: chih-mee-chang-uh). This movie reminds me of what Michelle and my wedding might be like if we ever decide to do that... that is, both of our parents are divorced, some remarried. In short, not fun.

UPDATE [2004-12-31 10:36]: I just realized I had misspelled "Fockers" as "Fokers". How did I notice this? Well, NQB was the highest-ranked hit on MSN search for the queries "meet the fokers" and "meet the fokers review". Of course, Google is smart-enough to suggest "Fockers".