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| That's right, I busted out a diner basket and liner just like a fish n' chips joint. |
We rented two movies last night. Warm Bodies
and Identity Thief
. (affiliate links) 
Let me be the first to say I think zombie stuff is...well, boring. I don't get the whole zombie apocalypse thing, the current obsession with them, etc and we were both afraid we'd been "trailer duped." I wanted to watch it first to get it over with. But I have to say, this movie was pretty good! I went in expecting nothing and got a decent comedy, love story and even the little bit of the scary jolt one would expect in a zombie flick. (Without the gore! Bonus! I refuse to watch zombie movies because of the gratuitous gore they feel they need to add. This proves you can get the point across without being gore-tastic.) The soundtrack was actually awesome. Lots of 80's songs. I looked for a soundtrack but there's only the score...BOO! I have to say this is such a rarity when it happens that it gives me hope that Hollywood has a speck of originality left. (Though I think it was based on a book so I guess it's the literary world that has the originality.) But still, when a zombie flick makes me tear up and it's not that time of the month, I call that a good way to spend 90 minutes. Nicholas Hoult is going to the next Johnny Depp in terms of being able to express extreme emotion and conflict facially. He's amazing! If you're open minded to something a little different, give it a rent, it's only a buck or so.
Identity Thief. I need to preface this by saying I'm not a Mike and Molly fan so not real big on Melissa McCarthy but I love Jason Bateman so it had to be rented. Well you know how we thought we were trailer duped by the first one? Yeah...it was this one. Jason Bateman was funny but it wasn't enough to save it from the annoying, tired gags that were Melissa's character. Of course it can't be gags the whole time but it still wasn't enough to save it for me even with the schmaltz. The Mr checked out about halfway through. I could physically feel his annoyed demeanor without even looking at him. I think a lot of our disgruntled 'tude has to do with we know people who have gone through some serious crap with identity theft and it's hard to make light of that knowing what it can do to people. I know...party poopers. There are some genres I/we just shouldn't watch, no matter how satirical. (Same thing with somewhat realistic apocalyptic films. You put me in front of Deep Impact and I'm bawling by the middle to the end and ready to stock up on Spam.) They even failed on the gag reel. That's the best part of any movie and you couldn't even give us 60 seconds? It was like a gag clip. Barely.
What movies have you rented lately?
(This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to buy through them, I'll get a couple cents. Try to contain your jealousy.)
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The fish n chips was awesome. Yes salt would only make it better but I really felt like I was getting the best LJS ever and yet it was healthier and I didn't feel gross afterward from all the grease. If this is your first attempt then I cannot wait 'til you feel you've perfected it and I am glad to be your guinea pig indeed.
ReplyDeleteYour review of Warm Bodies was, um, dead on. No, seriously, you really hit the zombie on the head. I keed I keed. It really has that perfect blend of a comedy, a zombie/horror thriller, a romance and an action flick all in one and I was really surprised by how entertaining it all was. Highly recommend it to everybody.
ID Thief was just a nails on a chalkboard filled movie for me. It's funny how I found it easier to suspend my disbelief with the zombie flick but couldn't quite do that for the more realistic movie. The overall story was actually good but some of the antics are just too much I guess, or something.
Still enjoyed our movie night together!
Yeah, definitely needs salt and you know I don't like to use salt. Sometimes it can't be avoided.
Delete"Your review of Warm Bodies was, um, dead on. No, seriously, you really hit the zombie on the head." Ladies and gents...welcome to the Mr's humor.
I just watched Stand Alone with Arnold. It had humor, a really cool car and lots of action. Was a good movie. You might also be pleasantly surprised by Zombieland. I am not a fan of zombie flicks either but that one was surprisingly good and you gotta love Woody Harrelson as Tallahasee.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that zombieland is really good. Will have to watch that. I guess Amazon is considering picking it up as a TV series as well.
DeleteWill have to look those movies up. I'll pass on Zombieland. I don't do gory or body fluids. The Mr can partake. ;)
Deleteooh the fish and chips look delish...
ReplyDeleteI love ZOMBIES!! bring on the gore!! hehehe..saying that warm bodies is a cute movie...I am not into the in ur face comedy movies..all the stuff in the trailer is the only funny stuff..unless someone tells me its amazing, I wont watch it...
They were pretty good for a first attempt.
DeleteUgh, you can have the gore. Warm Bodies has something for everyone except hardcore gore so you wouldn't like it. It's nowhere near an "in your face comedy". It's almost every genre of film rolled into one and done so well it should be shown to upcoming film majors to show how to do it well without looking like you're selling out.
Yeah...i liked warm bodies...just dont care for movies like Identity thief...I watched "bridesmaids" for the "milwaukee" aspect as I went to school there...heheh and my first glimpse of USA:)
DeleteOh...gotcha! I must've had a brain fart that day. So unlike me...not. Did you recognize any of the places in the movie? I love it when you've been somewhere featured in a movie and can yell "hey, that's _____!"
DeleteI don't get zombies, either. Or vampires, especially sexy vampires. Weird. Funny, I was just about to use our Groupon-scored cheap-o movie tickets to go see Identity Theft. I knew this was a second-run theater, but didn't realize I could rent the same flicks. I'm going to have to start paying more attention to your reviews, because in a couple of months when it won't cost us money we're going to basic satellite TV and Netflix--we've got some serious movie catch-up to do.
ReplyDeleteThe only vampire I ever liked was Nick Knight from back in the 90's. It's horribly cheesy now but loved Forever Knight. Definitely rent for a buck if you can. I wouldn't steer anyone away from it but it wasn't our cup o' tea. Let me know what ya think!
DeleteDon't get zombies; hate gore; LOVE Nicholas Hoult and schmaltzy 'we're made for each other-you give me life" type romances. Warm Bodies is high on my list and I'm glad to hear you liked it. Movie nights are on hold for a while due to some house and work projects and I cannot WAIT to carve out a Sunday evening with popcorn and a movie marathon after it's all done.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen About A Boy? Unless you loath Hugh Grant, give it a try. It's a young, Nicholas Hoult and his character is so touching. It's not the easiest movie I've ever watched but it was worth my time.
I didn't expect to like it much at all much less say it's one we need to own. It was that good to us. I haven't seen About a Boy, I'll have to check it out!
DeleteZombies are so over done. I'm really sick of everthing having to be "zombiefied", like Zombie Hello Kitty and crap like that. Stop. Just stop.
ReplyDeleteI just got netflix (my local video store closed *cries*) so I've been catching up on some old t.v. shows.
"American Horror Story" (season 1): it was just ok. But I like seeing Frances Conroy again--I loved her in Six Feet Under)
"The Wire": I can appreciate how this show was ground breaking in its day, but it hasn't aged well. It is fun to play "s/he's from (fill in newer show)" with it, though. Lots of faces from "Treme" (which is a really good show)
"Homeland": this one is decent but a bit hyped. And I still can't stant Damian Lewis' face. How mean is that? His face is so visually unappealing it's jarring to me (and makes me mad for some odd reason).
Indeed! Zombiefying HK!?! Blasphemy! I watched AHS just because of Frances. I really liked it. I got it for my bday and need to go back through and re-watch it so I can catch clues. I wasn't a big fan of the 2nd season but am looking forward to the 3rd. They've got a lot of good people lined up and Frances is coming back!
DeleteI am not a zombie fan either, but did watch Zombieland a while back. It wasn't bad, surprisingly. But I don't watch any of these new extremely popular zombie TV shows, just not a gore fan either, and neither is my Du. I will be watching The Dome this summer, however, as much as I hate gore, I'm a huge Stephen King fan--Go Figure??!! Although I prefer his books to his movies, with 'Shawshank' and 'Stand By Me' being the exceptions to that rule.
ReplyDeleteMy son got me the movies, 'Parental Guidance' and 'Guilt Trip' for Mother's Day and I loved them both. I was afraid Guilt Trip would get annoying fast, with Barbra Streisand carping constantly at poor Zach Galifinakis (sp?), but it wasn't bad. And I am a huge fan of Babs, so it was more than tolerable.
I need the recipe for the fish coating! That looks delicious. I bought a Big Boss oil-less fryer a month or so ago, at my daughter-in-law's recommendation. I hardly use it, and it is HUGE and I haven't found a place to store it yet, so it's siting on my dining room table. I can't see that the fries (which is all I have made in it, so far) are any crispier cooked in that thing than they are when baked in the oven. So that was $100 NOT well spent. However, I was thinking maybe I could cook your fish with that delicious looking coating in my BIG ASS (as I call it) fryer??
Yesterday I added a teaspoon of pesto to the hummus before spreading it on my Naan. Then I sprinkled on the chopped up chicken, squirted some barbecue sauce on top of that, and then 1/4 cup of mozarella cheese. It was very tasty. I think my next pizza will be a bacon and tomato one. Saw a few recipes for that when I was Googling 'Naan Pizza.'
The Mr is chompin' at the bit for The Dome. I'll give it a chance but I'm getting pretty picky about what I watch these days. I've axed some on my DVR lately. I wouldn't recommend the batter I used last night. I'm going to try again this weekend and I'll post it when it's perfected. I love pesto. I bought 3 basil plants so I can make more pesto this year. Soo good. I like to grill chicken then toss it in pesto at the end. YUM
DeleteWhile I'm not a fan of gratuitous gore, I do enjoy horror movies and I know that sometimes blood and other "stuff" comes with the genre. I'm a zombie/werewolf/witch/vampire fan too, but I was before the hype and will still be after the current fad has run its course.
ReplyDeleteI liked Zombieland. It was more like a story happening in the middle of the zombie apocalypse rather than a story about the zombie apocalypse. I don't know if that makes sense.
I've read Warm Bodies and I liked the book, but I haven't seen the movie yet.
I saw the new Star Trek at the theater and enjoyed that. I also watched "Terror of Mechagodzilla" the other night on Netflix and it's saving grace was that it was totally mock-worthy. The other one I watched on Netflix was "the Awakening" - it wasn't bad.
I like old school 80's horror where it was a normal amount of blood/guts but when the whole Hostel/Saw crap hit, I was out. I was looking forward to the Evil Dead remake but then saw it was called the most gory movie in history or something like that and I no longer wanted to see it. Sigh.
DeleteI have those baskets and liners too--I don't use them nearly enough. Guess it's time to make some onion rings, huh? :) Don't you love when a knock-off recipe is a success?!
ReplyDeleteI am so lame & I pretty much never watch movies. I have the attention span of a gnat!
I'm pretty boring because I have zero attention span when it comes to movies. The hubs can watch any movie no matter what stage it's in when he flips it on and watch it repeatedly. I can't tell you how many times I walk into the room to see Willy Wonka on or Shawshank Redemption on my screen! We don't go to the movies often because we can never seem to find one we're interested enough to fork out the money for, but we are both hoping there will be one this summer that we can indulge in a fun date day and go see.
ReplyDeleteI read Warm Bodies at the urging of my son and actually enjoyed the book - definitely a different take on zombies! So I am looking forward to seeing the movie at some point in the near future - and definitely now with your recommend (because, girl, we definitely have similar tastes!)
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely "meh" about Identity Thief. Maybe I'll watch when it's on cable...
Hoping the recipes for the fish and chips and potatoes are coming soon!!!! Looks DELISH!
Well, I guess I might be in the minority here because I actually enjoyed Identity Thief, which I just watched on Sunday. My mom and another friend of mine watched it Friday and Saturday, and they seemed to enjoy it as well. I didn't like the part about people's identities being stolen because it is so serious. I don't know if I would have been able to be as kind as the guy was even after the fact, but it did show compassion. I think the biggest things to get out of the movie was that if your identity is stolen, the burden of proof is really on you to prove everything. It can ruin your life while the person who has stolen your identity can really be living high on the hog. I am a person who can normally find the good in any movie though, so I hate when people ask me how a movie was. Nine times out of 10 I will say that I enjoyed it, but don't gauge how a movie is going to be based on my response.
ReplyDelete