The Darkest Hour is a movie about glittery-light aliens who need minerals from our planet and have electric arm-thingies that grab humans so they can turn the humans into sparkly ash.  Oh... and not just humans, they eat dogs too.

Not my most favorite movie ever.  Actually, nothing about this movie made it a favorite, but I will say, it was somewhat entertaining.  Minus the dog getting killed.  I hate that.  Why pick on the animals?

So, I digress...  the movie is centered around some really annoying twenty-somethings who are clubbing when the alien attack comes.  They hide out, go to a mall, figure out a few key techniques to stay alive, and run across Moscow to find a submarine that will take them to...  somewhere.  Not safety, apparently the aliens attacked everywhere.  So they decide to get on a submarine... in the water... with electric arm aliens on the loose.  Maybe it's a different type of electricity these aliens use, you know a kind that isn't actually conducted by water.

Besides attempting to forget every principle Mr. Wizard taught me as a child, the main thing I got from this movie is this:  it is basic human nature when something you are unfamiliar with is presented to you that you POKE IT WITH A STICK.  Unfortunately, if the unfamiliar thing does turn out to be a glittery alien, it will turn you to sparkly ash as you poke it.  Beware.

I’m a sucker for a good plague movie.  Of course, I do prefer a zombie plague, but “Contagion” was special.  If you’ve ever wondered what a Gwyneth Paltrow autopsy would look like, wonder no more.  Yes, it’s in there! Oh, and wonder not what Jude Law would look like with a hilarious wonky tooth crudely applied to his perfect choppers. (That alone may have been the most upsetting part of the movie.) 

So, to start off… this movie has a cast like half-price appetizers night at Ruby Tuesday.  They all showed up.  You’ve got Morpheus, I mean, Lawrence Fishburn, Gwyneth, Jude Law, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Gould, and my personal favorite Bryan Cranston (watch Breaking Bad if you don’t already, you will thank me) to name a few.  If you wonder what kind of budget this movie must have had to afford this cast, just remember, a lot of them don’t make it out alive.  Gwyneth has more flashback scenes after she’s worm food.

 The movie itself, to be honest, is  not a horrible story.  I like the fact they go into the details of an outbreak after several months.  The aftermath is always interesting.  I really would’ve liked to have seen more of the rioting, looting, real post-apocalyptic kind of stuff that I can only assume a global pandemic would bring on, but they did a decent enough job of that.  Not every movie can have the “Red Dawn” effect.

And… it has a great lesson to be learned.  I love movies that I can use as life lessons for my son.  A couple years ago I made him watch Dee Snider’s “Strangeland” in an effort to teach him to not talk to strangers online.  This one, hopefully, will put some of my germophobic tendencies in his head.  Don’t touch things.  Wash your hands.  Use antibacterial wipes.  Know you can’t judge a book by its cover and people that look clean like Gwyneth Paltrow can really have some nasty pig disease.  I don’t know if the statistics they spout out in the movie are correct, for example, “the average person touches their face between 2,000 and 3,000 times per day.”  But does it really matter?  Touch it ONCE after you come in contact with a door knob the pig disease girl touched and you are screwed.  Think about it.   

Admittedly, I never watched the series back in the late 80's.  I know...  shameful...  So, I obviously won't be making any comparisons, but nonetheless, as far as movies go, I enjoyed this one.
 
I expected a stupid, slapstick, cheesy movie that would bore me.  Instead, I laughed.  A lot.  It was funny.  Granted some of the humor was a little more than juvenile, but it was really hilarious.  I don't usually go for these types of movies, but this one was well worth the two hours.
 
Lots of cameo appearances, I won't give any spoilers, but there were quite a few stars in this one.  Very cute movie.  I highly recommend.

After visiting New Orleans and walking through the Garden District, strolling through Lafayette Cemetery and staring on dumbfounded at Anne Rice's old house, it seems the only option for my Monday Morning Review is to go with "Interview with the Vampire."

I remember the first time I watched this movie, I honestly didn't expect it to be done so well.  Sure, there was a ridiculously famous cast, but I thought if anything that would hurt the movie.

Fortunately, I couldn't have been more wrong.  Brad Pitt was great as Louis, Christian Slater... well, was Christian Slater and I will adamently argue without a doubt that this movie was the best movie Kirsten Dunst has ever done.  But most of all, I was surprised by Tom Cruise's performance.  I wanted to be sick when I thought of him as Lestat, but not only did he pull it off, he was quite exceptional.  I still don't really envision him as Lestat, but I can't deny he did a wonderful job.

If you haven't seen this movie, (and surprisingly, I know a few people who haven't) you must.  Go rent it.  Now. 

(To the right is the house Anne Rice lived in from 1989-2004 located at 1239 First Street)

Today I’m going to tell you about “Wrath of the Titans.” It’s out on DVD, and overall not a bad choice.  If you liked the first one, you’ll like this one I’m sure.  Of course being a child of the 80’s I prefer the one with Harry Hamlin and the super crappy effects, but I’m weird like that.

So without any spoilers, it’s basically the same idea.  Gods, Humans, Monsters… and of course it’s the demi-god, Perseus, who has to save the world.  Why it’s always this poor dude, I’ll never know, but I guess that’s what you get when Zeus hooks up with your mom.  Regardless, it’s still fun and the effects are terrific.

The only real bone I have to pick is with the casting.  Really most everyone is pretty good.  Queen Andromeda, a hot chick – check.  Perseus, eh… good enough, he’s cute.  Ares – perfect pick for the God of War in my opinion.  Then there’s Zeus and Hades.  What I like about the casting for these characters is that Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes totally look like they could be brothers, so it works.  The issue I have is with Poseidon.  Shouldn’t he look like Michael Phelps or something?  He’s Poseidon!  You’d think they’d get a dude that looks like a swimmer.  Maybe I’m overthinking…

So anyway, movie was enjoyable.  Great effects.  That’s about it.

I’ve decided to organize my thoughts instead of randomly spewing like I have always been soooo good at doing.  From here on out, I officially dub Mondays as Mama’s Monday Morning Movie Review… usually I watch at least a couple movies over the weekend.  And, by the way, when I say morning, it’s really for the alliteration, not so much the time of day, sometimes I’m just lazy until afternoon. 

So, for our very first installment of the movie review, I’m going to go big.  MTV Movie Awards winner, Teen Choice nominee, among several others, today’s movie is going to be “The Hunger Games.”

I just began reading the book as the movie came out so I saw it somewhat later than most.  My very opinionated mother went with some friends to see it and reported back that evening that “it was appalling how the movie depicted children just killing each other!” After hearing her account, I was expecting something much more graphic, but then again I am a touch desensitized to violence being a child of 80’s slasher films.  Plus I read the book… and I think that made all the difference. 

Of course, being an author I’m going to tell everyone to “READ THE BOOK!” But in this case, I think it is almost imperative. The movie is enjoyable, but getting all the details to fit into a two hour window is somewhat difficult in any case, and in this one, seemed impossible.  Many of the movie’s themes and ideas seemed somewhat underdeveloped when compared to the book.  One of which is why children are killing each other.  I can understand my mom’s reaction.  I’ll leave it at that since I don’t want to throw out any spoilers, but as always, the movie is a great supplement for reading the book.  (I’ll quite with that now).

So to get to the actual movie review… I thought the casting was phenomenal.  Lenny Kravitz as Cinna… Please Hollywood, cast Lenny in more movies.  Mama loves him… Also, Jennifer Lawrence was a wonderful Katniss Everdeen. Not only is she actually from Kentucky (probably somewhere reasonably close to where District 12 would have actually been), but she is a beautiful young lady, who looks strong and capable of being a great female lead in an action movie.  i.e. – not emaciated and waif-like.  It’s reasonable to assume she could pick up a bow and run through the woods without falling over from starvation.

Overall, I thought this was a fun movie.