Last weekend my wife and I went and saw "Friday Night Lights," almost a requirement living where I do. Thought it was pretty good...the movie version concentrates on the overwhelming pressure to succeed that high school football players receive from family, peers, and the community at large. Apparently the book, which I have not read, goes into greater detail about sex, drugs, and alcohol that pervades the lives of high school football players. When I was in late elementary or junior high school, our high school football team went to state and, I believe, played Odessa-Permian in the final. We lost. Of course, that was well before the events of this movie ('88). My school's state trip was in 1980.
"The Forgotten" is one we've seen recently. It's good...predictable plot, tho. The special effects and "surprises" are good.
We've also recently seen "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," which I thought was great! Coming out of the theater, I heard some other people that saw it grumbling about how it was the "stupidest movie ever." Blah. One thing puzzled me...why was Sky Captain, played by Jude Law with a British accent and obvious ties to the British RAF, living in and operating out of the U.S.? But overall, I thought the animation was great - it was done in the style of old 1940s - 1950s Movietone Newsreels. There was even one scene where the mayor of New York was calling Sky Captain for help, and the scene pulled back to an animated shot of a radio tower sending out little lightning bolt radio waves! Major coolness!
Another recent goodie we've seen is "The Village", M. Night Shyamalan's latest. I love movies like this that, while they aren't simply retellings of fairy tales ("Happily Ever After"...ugh!) take the themes and sensibilities of fairy tales and incorporate them into a new plot. This one wonderfully embodies aspects of both "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Sleeping Beauty." "AI", one of my favorite movies of all time, employs much of the sensibility of "Pinocchio" in a similar way, although is more overt about it than "The Village" is. "The Village" also makes eerie use of Shyamalan's signature unhurried (some say "slow") pace. Great stuff.
