HBO's John Adams

I'm looking forward to watching HBO tonight for the first episode of their 7-part mini-series, John Adams, a biopic of the 2nd President and the story of the first fifty years of the United States.

HBO has made a bunch of great historical films: Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This one looks good too. It'll probably be more informative than anything you learned about John Adams from school. They could probably show this movie in 6th grade and skip history class for the rest of the year.

Paul Giamatti plays John Adams and Laura Linney plays his wife Abigail.

It should be cool seeing all the other characters from history too, like Benjamin Franklin (played by the great Tom Wilkinson).

If you don't know who invented something, or you wonder who said some famous quote, you should always assume it's Ben Franklin. The next time you're playing your glass harmonica during a thunderstorm, thank Ben that the lightning rod on your house will protect you from electricity shooting right up your urinary catheter.

Samuel Adams is in this movie too. You know, the guy who invented beer . Oh wait, that was probably Ben Franklin.

More Movies

I watched Fracture with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling this week. It's sure nice to see Hopkins step out of his evil murderer role - oh wait, he plays an evil murderer in this movie too!

When Ted Crawford discovers that his beautiful younger wife, Jennifer, is having an affair, he plans her murder--the perfect murder. Among the cops arriving at the crime scene is hostage negotiator Detective Rob Nunally, the only officer permitted entry to the house. Surprisingly, Crawford readily admits to shooting his wife, but Nunally is too stunned to pay close attention when he recognizes his lover, whose true identity he never knew, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Although Jennifer was shot at point blank range, Nunally realizes she isn't dead. Crawford is immediately arrested and arraigned after confessing--a seemingly slam-dunk case for hot shot assistant district attorney Willy Beachum, who has one foot out the door of the District Attorney's office on his way to a lucrative job in high-stakes corporate law. But nothing is as simple as it seems, including this case. Will the lure of power and a love affair with a sexy, ambitious attorney at his new firm overpower Willy's fierce drive to win, or worse, quash his code of ethics? In a tense duel of intellect and strategy, Crawford and Willy both learn that a "fracture" can be found in every ostensibly perfect facade.

I like Anthony Hopkins in most of his roles and he's always great playing an evil person. I found myself rooting for him to escape instead of being brought to justice. I also like Ryan Gosling from watching Lars and the Real Girl but he wasn't any spectacular in this movie. Still, I enjoyed the film and I recommend it.

I had recorded A Scanner Darkly from HBO awhile back and finally watched it this weekend. I knew a little bit about this movie and I like Robert Downey Jr. as an actor, so I was interested in it.

The movie is based on a Philip K. Dick novel. Dick wrote many other science fiction stories, several that have been made into films after his death (Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report).

To give the film a distinct look, the movie was filmed digitally and then animated using interpolated rotoscope over the original footage. To me, it looks kind of like a very-smooth cartoon, which was a perfect way of showing the drug-induced views of the characters in the movie.

Set in a future world where America has lost the war on drugs, an undercover cop, Fred, is one of many agents hooked on the popular drug Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalities. Fred, for instance, is also Bob, a notorious drug dealer. Along with his superior officers, Fred sets up an elaborate scheme to catch Bob and tear down his operation.

Also starring in this film are Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Woody Harrelson. I enjoyed the animation and the acting, although the story was fairly complex and I had to pay close attention to make sure I knew what was going on. But you're rewarded with thoughtful and uncommon plot that makes it worth watching.

Films with Actors I Don't Like

I watched another movie in the continuing series I like to call Films with Actors I Don't Like.

Mr. Brooks

Consider Mr. Brooks: a successful businessman; a generous philanthropist; a loving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret--he is an insatiable serial killer, so lethally clever that no one has ever suspected him--until now. Earl Brooks is a man who has managed to keep his two incompatible worlds from intersecting by controlling his cunning, wicked alter ego Marshall. But now, as Mr. Brooks succumbs to one last murderous urge, an amateur photographer witnesses the crime. Suddenly Brooks finds himself entangled in the dark agenda of an opportunistic bystander, as well as hunted by the unorthodox and tenacious detective Tracy Atwood. Can Mr. Brooks outsmart his adversaries and conceal his shocking double life from his wife and daughter--or will someone expose his crimes and his identity once and for all?

I didn’t know anything about this film before I watched it except that it starred Kevin Costner, who I do like. And I know that critics seem to pan all Kevin Costner movies.

But I didn’t realize it also stars Dane Cook (who I just saw in Dan in Real Life), who I don’t like. And it also stars Demi Moore, who I also don’t like.

But there were also some actors that I like. Besides Costner, I thought William Hurt was great in this movie and I've been a fan of his acting (Into the Wild and A History of Violence). I also like Marg Helgenberger from CSI, who plays Costner's wife.

Parts of this film were really good and I enjoyed it. There were other parts that were completely ridiculous (every plot envoloving Demi Moore's character) that almost ruined the movie for me. But the story is interesting enough to keep your attention though the stupid parts, and good acting my Costner and Hurt make it entertaining.

I also watched the Academy Award-nominated Disney movie Enchanted, with Amy Adams (who just hosted Saturday Night Live). The actor I don't like is Susan Sarandon.

The tale follows the beautiful princess Giselle as she is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land--and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid--even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home--she has to wonder: can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

This movie was better than I expected and I really enjoyed the songs, especially the ones I had heard on the Oscars a few weeks ago. It's worth watching, especially if you're a little girl.

Michael Scott and the Real Girl

I watched two decent movies this week.

Lars and the Real Girl is the story of Lars Lindstrom, a loveable introvert whose emotional baggage has kept him from fully embracing life. After years of what is almost solitude, he invites Bianca, a friend he met on the internet to visit him. He introduces Bianca to his brother Gus and his wife Karen and they are stunned. They don't know what to say to Lars or Bianca--because she is a life-size doll, not a real person and he is treating her as though she is alive. They consult the family doctor Dagmar who explains this is a delusion he's created--for what reason she doesn't yet know but they should all go along with it. What follows is an emotional journey for Lars and the people around him.

This movie was surprisingly good - and touching - despite the fact that Lars's girlfriend is a doll. It's a smart comedy with a lot of tender moments. I was impressed and I think the movie is definitely worth watching.

Dan in Real Life stars Steve Carell from The Office in his typical role. Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent.

Juliette Binoche is the love interest but she didn't seem quite right for the role - maybe a little too old. Comedian Dane Cook also stars in this movie and I'm not a big fan of his. The movie is also pretty predictable, but I still enjoyed it. Steve Carell does a great job and makes the movie fun to watch.