"American Beauty"

Our third and final movie of the weekend was the Academy Award winning "American Beauty." If you have not seen this film, we highly recommend it. With an all-star cast including Annette Bening, Kevin Spacey, Chris Cooper & Allison Janney to name a few, this film takes a look at "normal" and provides insight into the charades played by various people throughout the film. It's difficult to describe the movie, so we will just end by saying that everyone should view it. Even while made in 1999, the content still resonates today and this movie remains one of our all-time favorites.

Run Time: 122 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 5

Stay tuned for next time when we begin our "American Pie" trilogy.

"Along Came Polly"

Our next movie of the weekend was "Along Came Polly" starring Ben Stiller as Reuben & Jennifer Aniston as Polly. This is a comedy romance as opposed to a romantic comedy. It is a twist on the classic "opposites attract" scenario with Reuben as a straight-laced risk assessor and Polly as a flighty, spontaneous waitress.

Reuben and Polly re-connect at an art gallery opening (they went to middle school together) after Reuben's wife, Lisa (Debra Messing) cheats on him on the first day of their honeymoon with Claude (Hank Azaria - WOW!!) the scuba instructor and comedy ensues. Ultimately, Reuben has to choose between Polly and Lisa. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben's former child-star best friend Sandy, adds an additional layer of ego and grossness.

Run Time: 91 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 4

"Alice in Wonderland"

Our first movie over the weekend was Disney's "Alice in Wonderland." Re-watching this movie as an adult makes me wonder what kept me glued to the screen as a child, as the movie really does not make a lot of sense. My guess is the colors and songs.

While not one of my favorite Disney movies, I do remember also watching/recording on tape a live action mini-series version of "Alice." This live action version incorporated many more instances of Lewis Carroll's stories and poems, like the Jabberwocky. The live action version was much darker and scarier than the cartoon. (as it should be, I guess)

Anyway, my favorite character in this movie is the crazy Cheshire Cat and my favorite scene would probably be the "Unbirthday" tea party with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse. As I watched, I can totally understand the appeal that this tale has for Tim Burton and am intrigued to see what he can do with the story when he brings it to life with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

Run Time: 75 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 2 3/4

"Alexander"

Not too much to say about this one...we fell asleep. From what we remember, it is the tale of the life of Alexander the Great. This movie stars Collin Farrell as Alexander and Angelina Jolie as his mom. That's about all we can say.

Even though we fell asleep, we are still counting this toward our goal b/c this movie is nearly 4 hours long and we don't want to watch it again!! : )

Run Time: 213 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 3 - based on the 1st time Mike watched it. (I fell asleep both times we attempted to view it.)

Up Next: "Alice in Wonderland"

"Aladdin"

For our second movie of the weekend, we watched "Aladdin." A classic tale of love conquers all, with a dash of everything is better when you "just be yourself" thrown in for good measure.

This is the first of our extensive collection of animated Disney movies. I (Lindz) am still a huge fan of anything Disney, even as I approach my 30's and "Aladdin" happens to be one of my all-time favorites. I love Robin Williams as the Genie, but could do without Gilbert Gottfried as Iago, the evil sorcerer Jafar's pet parrot. And to top it all off, you can't help but to dance a bit in your seat and want to sing along to all of the great songs in this movie.

While Mike may choose to use these type of movies as an opportunity to catch up on lost sleep, I on the other hand, remain glued to the screen, as I haven't seen many of these movies in their entirety for years. My feeling is that this was a great movie to end the weekend with!!

Run Time: 90 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 4 3/4

Next Showing: "Alexander," the epic tale of Alexander the Great starring Collin Farrell and Angelina Jolie.

"Airheads"

OK, we are at a loss as to why we even have this movie. I believe we were trying to round out a purchase at Blockbuster when there was a sale going on and thought this would make a good addition to our catalog. Boy, were we confused!

This movie wasn't one of our favorites. It's not even within any of the genres that we enjoy. It is essentially the tale of an unknown rock band who through various criminal acts end up getting a record contract. This movie has a lot of star power with Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, David Arquette, Joe Mantegna & Michael Richards, but again, while this would be a great movie for a certain audience, it just wasn't our cup of tea.

Run time: 92 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 1

Up Next: "Aladdin"

"Air Force One"

What can be said about this movie? Featuring Glenn Close as the Vice President and made in 1997, it was a bit ahead of its time. However, as with most action movies, some farfetchedness is required. Like why are all of the guys with guns the absolute most terrible shots in the entire world?

Also, our feeling with watching a film where Air Force One is hijacked by Russian zealots, brought up some questions about why did we and do we continue to give these terrorist guys ideas? I mean, why don't we make a film to show ways to hijack planes? That sounds like an AWESOME idea!! Right? Wrong.

Anyway, we still enjoyed the movie and I loved watching Gary Oldman as the lead Russian and hearing his accent.

Run Time: 125 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 4 1/2

Join us again next time when our film will be "Airheads," which again we own, but have never watched.

"300"

Well, we finally got back to our movie project with the watching of the Blu-Ray disc "300." This was our first time viewing this movie, as it came free with the purchase of our DVD player more than a year ago. Can you tell we didn't expect it to be our cup of tea?

As it turns out, it wasn't as gory as I had heard it was. The CGI effects and the muted coloring of the film seemed to help. The movie essentially tells the story of King Leonidas and his "army" of 300 spartans that go to meet the army of millions of Xerxes.

All in all, the movie had a good pace and I (Lindz) can't complain about the constant stream of shirtless Spartans and their glistening 6-pack abs!!

Run Time: 116 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 3

Check out our next post as we finally move into the alphabet with the viewing of "Air Force One" with the Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and Glenn Close.

Denver Bound

Well, we are off to Denver for the weekend tomorrow, so it will be doubtful that any new movie posts will make their way onto the site.

Maybe on Sunday when we get back, but otherwise, hope everyone has a good weekend and stays cool!!

"102 Dalmations"

The second movie today was our first of many Disney movies, the un-animated "102 Dalmations," with Glenn Close, Ioan Gruffoad & Gerard Depardieu.

Not too much to say about the plot of this one, as it is strikingly similar to the original "101 Dalmations." However, with numerous dogs throughout the film, Mike and I were decently entertained by checking out all the different breeds represented.

Run time: 100 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 2

Join us again next time when we will be viewing "300" for the first time.

"88 Minutes"

This afternoon we enjoyed the first Blu-Ray movie in our collection, "88 Minutes." This is a thriller featuring Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic psychologist and professor who helped put away a serial rapist/murder 9 years previously...or so he thinks.

Throughout the movie, Dr. Gramm races the clock to prove a new series of murders are being committed by a copycat and to ensure his own life will continue. Tick tock, tick tock...

I noticed that Stephen Moyer, who is the lead vampire character in HBO's "True Blood" series is also in this movie as a creepy, stalker-esque character. I always find it interesting to see what present stars are in movies before they are household names.

We felt this movie was better the first time around, but that is typically the case with most thriller type movies, 'cuz once you know the ending, it's hard to get the same impact the next time around.

Run time: 107 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 3 1/4

Check out our next posting on "102 Dalmations."

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

We partook in the viewing of one more movie tonight, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." This is a film by Judd Apatow and is quite funny. There are various one-liners in this movie that you have to watch the movie again to catch. And of course, any movie that ends with the entire cast singing "Aquarius" and dancing around in hippie glory can't be bad!

This movie is undeniably designed for a certain audience, as the humor, while hilarious, is mostly low-brow and sex-related. It does deliver a poignant message at the end, that love conquers all, but of course with several diversions along the way. We are huge fans of Steve Carell and he delivers again in this movie, especially during the waxing scene. (OUCH!!) Seth Rogen, Romany Malco & Paul Rudd add to the mix and the character of Mooj is hysterical!!

Run Time: 133 minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 4

Please check in again next time when our movie will be drastically different from this one in the form of "88 Minutes" with Al Pacino.

"27 Dresses"

Our first film today was "27 Dresses," which also happens to be our first romantic comedy/chick flick. This project is the best excuse that I have had in awhile to get Mike to watch these types of movies with me. I secretly think he enjoys them, but that could just be me trying to make myself feel better for forcing him to watch with me!!

Of course as is the case with all romantic comedies, you have the penultimate single girl, in this case, Jane, who has yet to find the "right one." In this instance, Jane is the epitome of the "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" adage...literally. In this movie, Jane has been a bridesmaid 27 times, hence the number of dresses in the title.

This is one of my (Lindsay) favorite romantic comedies, as it combines romance and comedy (DUH!) with weddings and hideous dresses. The best of the worst is the sari that Jane has to wear to the Hindu/Jewish wedding. The worst of the worst is the underwater wedding outfit, consisting of bathing suit with tulle overlay, pink flippers, snorkel and yes, you guessed it, flower decorated swim cap. Of course in the end, girl gets the boy and everyone lives happily ever after and Jane's 27 bridesmaid dresses make a special appearance at her own wedding...sigh.

Run Time: 111 Minutes

Schellhardt Stars: 4 1/2

Keep checking in, as our next movie is "(The) 40-Year-Old Virgin" featuring the always funny Steve Carell, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.