End of Year Top Ten for 2014

I think this might have been the year I watched the fewest new movies.  Well, I mean most of the 238 I watched were new to me, but only fourteen were actually released this year.  That's kind of awful.  I know in the next month that I'll watch a crapload of 2014 films because the Oscar nominations will come out but that doesn't really help me now.

With the exception of The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay, which I haven't seen yet, I pretty much saw everything I wanted.  There were some decent animated films, some obvious Lucy-bait blockbusters, and a couple of surprises.  I'm not one to intentionally watch a lot of heavy dramas so I didn't see Fury or Rosewater.  I don't like stupid frat boy comedies like 22 Jump Street or Let's Be Cops so I'm not going to put myself through that.  I did, however, break one of my cardinal rules and watch a horror movie in the theater.  I usually wait to watch at home because I hate dealing with annoying people who can't stand the scares so they talk or yell at the screen like they're auditioning for Rifftrax.  Oculus did not make the top ten, because I thought the ending was lame but it's not a bad horror film.  I did see Into the Woods on Christmas Day and it also did not make the cut, just because there were other films that I liked more.  A review is forthcoming for that one.

So, here we are, in descending order:

#10)  The Hobbit:  the Battle of the Five Armies - This is at the bottom of the top ten because it really shouldn't have been made but I enjoyed it anyway.  There was really no reason a book that small had to be broken up into three films, but I love most of the people in it so I'm giving it a pass.

#9) John Wick - This should not have been as good as it was.  I haven't liked a Keanu Reeves movie since 1999 and that was despite him, not because of.  I seriously fucking enjoyed this film and even now, months later, I think back to certain scenes and want to watch it again.  That's almost as mind-blowing as suddenly learning kung fu.

#8) Maleficent -  Sure, this movie had some problems and it didn't really resonate with people, but I thought it was a decent re-imagining and Angelina Jolie killed it as my favorite Disney villain.

#7) Big Hero 6 - I thought this concept was really cool and it made me want my very own Baymax.  I also like how Disney was not afraid to really ramp up the complexity of the themes presented.

#6) Lucy - Another surprise.  I went in expecting a very middling effort but got a much cooler experience.

#5) The X-Men:  Days of Future Past - This is lower on the list than I was initially expecting, but in retrospect there were several places where the pacing got a little bogged down for me.  Can't beat that "Time in a Bottle" piece, though.

#4) The Boxtrolls - This was my second favorite animated film of the year.  I just loved everything about it.

#3) Captain America:  The Winter Soldier - These top three were so close, they might as well be tied.  Not only was this a fantastic movie, I feel like it was an important one.  Like people are going to be talking about it for years.  Also, fictionally, it changed the face of the entire Marvel universe.  This film caused ripples that will be felt throughout Phase II and Phase III.  This movie was so good, it may have single-handedly saved Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

#2) The Lego Movie - Awesome.  This movie lured me in with a cute premise, an adorable cast, and some insanity and then sucker punched me in the feels with a third-act twist that elevated it past popcorn flick into Instant Classic.  Also, that song is catchy as hell.

#1) Guardians of the Galaxy - I agonized over the placement of this and The Lego Movie.  Honestly, what cinched it was that I had the whole Guardians soundtrack and only the Lego single.  This was fun, exciting, and it expanded the Marvel universe into the farthest reaches of the galaxy.  James Gunn took a minor set of characters and turned them into people we cared about.  He made a character who only spoke three words of dialogue and turned him into the emotional center of the film.  That is amazing.

There is some great shit coming out in 2015, you guys, and I am really looking forward to another year filled with movies.  I hope you are too.  Happy New Year!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

  This film is considered a sci-fi classic and is held up as a shining example of Steven Spielberg's talent as a director.  I can't argue with any of that but, having only just seen it a week ago, I will tell you this:  it's not my favorite.

Part of that may be because I was forced to watch it rather than chose to watch it of my own accord.  I wasn't opposed per se, it was in my Netflix queue, but I didn't necessarily feel in the mood to watch it at that moment.

Electrical lineman Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and a handful of other people find their lives irrevocably changed after witnessing UFOs in the sky.  They become compelled to recreate tones they heard or images they saw in any medium they can find, stressing their relationships to the breaking point.  Meanwhile, the governments of the world scramble to put together an international team to understand this otherworldly contact, led by French UN scientist Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut).

I struggled to pay attention during the first half of the film, a fact which my mom yelled at me about even though she usually can't sit through a two-hour movie without having to get up twenty times.  But I digress.  Normally, I can do the slow burn.  Jaws takes forever to get cracking but it's worth the payoff.  Close Encounters just did not grab me in the same way.  I couldn't identify with the characters, especially Roy's wife, played by Teri Garr.  I really couldn't understand what her problem was and her hysterical screeching irritated the shit out of me.  Most of the visual effects stand up but the aliens themselves look horribly dated.

I'm not going to hate on anybody for enjoying this movie.  I understand why it's a classic and I recognize the skill it takes to craft a movie like that, especially in the late 70's.  I just didn't enjoy it.  I'm not a huge E.T. fan, either, but that movie meant more to me because it came out the year I was born.  I have no connection to Close Encounters and I doubt I'd ever watch it again.

Magnum Force (1973)

I'll be traveling back to Maryland tomorrow so I won't be able to post anything.  I haven't even gotten to the movies I watched while I was visiting my family so stay tuned.    For Christmas, Christy got me a four-pack of Dirty Harry movies so I could finally see the whole series.  I was so excited I broke my own alphabetized system so I could go ahead and watch them. 

Harry Calahan (Clint Eastwood) is on loan to an undercover squad with a brand new partner (Felton Perry) instead of on his usual homicide beat because he keeps pissing off his lieutenant (Hal Holbrook).  However, when a vigilante starts targeting high-level San Francisco criminals, Harry fights to get reassigned.  As fast and loose as he plays with the law, Harry does not appreciate people flouting it completely.

As sequels go, this one isn't terrible.  It's straightforward, action-heavy, and not burdened overmuch by exposition.  If you liked Dirty Harry and you wanted to see more of the character, you won't be disappointed.  He shows a little more brains here as well as an abundance of brawn.  This also has the distinction of featuring a very young Tim Matheson and Robert Urich as rookie cops newly assigned to Homicide.  They're not given an awful lot to do but they look adorable doing it.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

  Merry Christmas!  And here's a little something filled with ho-ho-homicide cheer from the master of horror, Vincent Price.

Scotland Yard is baffled when doctor after doctor turns up dead under ever more bizarre circumstances.  Inspector Trout (Peter Jeffrey) goes so far to consult a rabbi (Hugh Griffith) when one of the bodies is found with an arcane symbol on a necklace nearby.  The rabbi tells him the symbols represent the ten plagues of Egypt so the deaths are certainly connected.  Trout begins to search for what the four dead doctors have in common and finds that they and five others consulted on a surgery for a woman named Victoria Phibes (Caroline Munro), who died on the operating table.  The head surgeon, Dr. Vesalius (Joseph Cotten), remembers that the woman's husband died in a carriage accident on his way to retrieve his wife's body.  Dr. Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) was a concert organist, renowned scientist, and biblical scholar before his untimely demise.  It's all a little too neat and clean for Trout, however, and he begins to wonder if Phibes isn't behind the murders after all.

This had no right to be as entertaining as it was.  I could not stop watching it and I will most assuredly be buying it as soon as I can afford to do so.  Also, it's hilarious.  There's just so much to enjoy.  The deaths are elaborate and gory; I love the religious angle.  His little helper, Vulnavia (Virginia North), is beautiful but creepy because she never speaks.  There's a clockwork orchestra that plays jazz standards.  How the hell is this not being shown constantly on movie networks?  It should be a classic and instead it's relegated to MGM's B-movie label.  I guess it's one of those where you need to be in-the-know to hear about it, like a secret club for all the cool weird kids.  I expect my membership badge to come in the mail any day now.  Preferably delivered by trained ravens.

Dracula (1931)

Hey, everyone!  Sorry I missed posting yesterday.  I don't always have wi-fi access down here.  Here's your post for today and I'll try and get extra ones in this week.  This is the original, against which all others are compared.  It is a true icon and horror classic.

A young lawyer named Renfield (Dwight Frye) travels to Transylvania to settle a real estate contract with a reclusive nobleman.  What he doesn't know is that Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is actually an immortal vampire, living off the blood of the unwary.  Dracula has purchased a ruined abbey in London and uses Renfield as his enthralled servant to get him there.  Once presented to high society, the Count begins looking for a likely bride, and finds one in Mina Harker (Helen Chandler).  Mina already has a fiance, however, and he is none too thrilled when her entire personality begins to change.  He consults Abraham Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) to help him defeat the vampire and save his girlfriend.

Bats on strings aside, it is amazing how well this movie has held up through time.  It's been 80 years and it is still one of the greatest displays of atmosphere and mood to ever grace celluloid.  If you've never seen it, you are doing yourself the greatest of injustices.

Double Jeopardy (1999)

I'm traveling to Alabama for Christmas this year so I'm going to go ahead and post this on Friday, as I most likely will not be able to post on Saturday.  I'll do what I can but, just in case, here's one that I forgot to post last week.    This really is a terrible movie.  I didn't see it when it came out, it must have been a few years later, but I remember thinking that it was fair to middling.  Clearly, I had awful taste back then. 

Libby (Ashley Judd) and her husband Nick (Bruce Greenwood) had the perfect life, until he disappears at sea and she is blamed for his murder.  Libby serves her time quietly but starts to grow convinced that her husband is alive and well.  As soon as she is released on parole, she begins tracking down any and every lead she can, much to the ire of her gruff parole officer, Travis (Tommy Lee Jones).  He chases halfway across the country after her, intent on keeping her from killing her husband for real this time.

Ok, so the concept of using the legal standard of double jeopardy (you can't be tried for the same crime twice) for a thriller is pretty nifty.  Too bad it's so poorly executed.  Libby, the socialite-turned-convict, spends the first three-quarters of the film sucking at being a criminal, which makes her third act transformation into Thomas Crowne all the more unbelievable.  Need an example?  She goes from getting busted for petty breaking-and-entering by rural cops to smoothly conning her way into designer clothes for a black-tie event while avoiding a city-wide manhunt.

Considering the number of laws she breaks on her little quest for vengeance, she should be less concerned with double jeopardy and more worried about three-strikes laws.

If this movie were funnier or even campier, I could probably give it a pass, but there is absolutely no reason to watch it as it stands.  It's a mediocre plot filled with mediocre performances more suited to a Lifetime movie of the week than a theatrical release.

Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)

  I got this as part of a double feature with the fantastic Ruthless People, but I did not enjoy it nearly as much.  Bette Midler adds the only touch of comedy but even the Divine Miss M couldn't save the whole movie.  Maybe it's one of those tonal things that made sense back when it came out.  For whatever reason, I didn't connect to it at all.

Jerry (Nick Nolte) is a homeless guy who has lost his dog, so he decides to drown himself in the pool of a Beverly Hills mansion.  The mansion's owner, hanger magnate Dave Whiteman (Richard Dreyfuss), saves Jerry and decides to give the guy a break by letting him stay in the cabana. Jerry systematically changes the life of every person in the Whiteman household, from the live-in maid (Elizabeth Pena) to Jerry's anorexic daughter (Tracy Nelson) who spends the majority of the movie away at college.

The script felt underbaked, the characters weren't very realistic, and the whole thing came off as just another shiny, plastic tribute to the excess of the 80's.  Even what could have been a really touching moment, when Dave's son essentially comes out to him, fell completely flat, like the film-makers were too scared to really take a stand.  It's an emotionally neutered, bland film that squanders the talents of its three leads.

How to Steal a Million (1966)

  This movie is adorable.  I always get a little suspicious when Netflix recommends something to me with five stars.  I feel like it's a little hyperbolic of them to predict that I'll "love" whatever it is.  But their algorithm was absolutely spot on.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie.

Nicole Bonnet (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of a French count and noted art collector.  Only she knows that her father's (Hugh Griffith) famed collections are forgeries, done by the man himself.  She urges him to be more circumspect, but he blithely decides to loan a (forged) Cellini statue to a Parisian museum.  The same night as the statue's grand unveiling, Nicole stops a thief (Peter O'Toole) from taking one of her father's Van Gogh's.  This "society burgler" is just the man she needs when she discovers that the museum is bringing in an expert to verify the statue's authenticity in order to issue an insurance policy on it, so she hires him to steal it from the museum.  Of course, he's not exactly who he is pretending to be because where's the fun in that?

It's a William Wyler comedy, for those of you who know what that means, and it's available on streaming right now.  Better hurry before Netflix changes its mind again.

Doomsday (2008)

  I think this movie is totally underrated.  It's a fun popcorn flick with a lot of badass elements and I really think it's a shame that more people don't talk about it.

In the near-ish future, a virus breaks out in Scotland that devastates the population.  The government essentially quarantines the whole country, building a wall to keep the infected in until the virus runs its course.  A generation later and the virus returns, this time in London.  Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) is given the mission of taking a team past the wall to find a cure believed to be created by a doctor named Kane (Malcolm McDowell).  Sinclair and her team discover that, far from being a desolate wasteland, Scotland is now essentially two separate kingdoms.  One is a Mad Max-style cannibalistic rave led by Sol (Craig Conway) and the other is a faux-Camelot led by Kane.  Sinclair and team must navigate through these two groups in order to find a cure before England devolves into  the same chaos.

According to the movies, Britain is just one sneeze away from tearing itself apart at any given time.  Look at V for Vendetta and 28 Days Later.  That whole "stiff upper lip" "Keep Calm and Carry On" thing is just a cover for the mad panic lying under the surface.  For some reason, I think that's hilarious.

Anyway, like I said, this movie is far better than I think people believe.  I don't know if it just didn't get good marketing or what, but it didn't perform well at the box office and I think everybody just decided to forget about it.  Here's the thing, though:  Neil Marshall directed it, the same guy who blew everyone away with The Descent and the criminally under appreciated Dog Soldiers.  For that alone, you should give it a chance.

Golden Globes Nominations 2015

This totally snuck up on me this year.  I guess because the Oscar Nominations don't come out until mid-January, I was thinking the Golden Globes were closer to the end of December but here they are!  I freely admit that I haven't seen anything nominated this year (like every year) but I will do my best to see as many as I can, especially if they also get the nod from the Academy.

Best Motion Picture, Drama

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Pride
St. Vincent

Best Director, Motion Picture

Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Ava Duvernay, "Selma"
David Fincher, "Gone Girl"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"

Best TV Series, Drama

The Affair
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
House of Cards

Best TV Series, Comedy

Girls
Jane the Virgin
Orange is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent

Best TV Movie or Mini-Series

Fargo
The Missing
The Normal Heart
Olive Kitteredge
True Detective

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"
Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"
David Oyelowo, "Selma"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Jennifer Aniston, "Cake"
Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams, "Big Eyes"
Emily Blunt, "Into the Woods"
Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"
Quevenzhane Wallis, "Annie"
Helen Mirren, "Hundred-Foot Journey"

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Ralph Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
Bill Murray, "St. Vincent"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Inherent Vice"
Christoph Waltz, "Big Eyes"

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Clive Owen, The Knick
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Dominic West, The Affair

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy

Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy

Louie C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Ricky Gervais, Derek
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Jessica Chastain, "A Most Violent Year"
Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
Emma Stone, "Birdman"
Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Robert Duvall, "The Judge"
Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
Edward Norton, "Birdman"
Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Best Screenplay

Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Gillian Flynn, "Gone Girl"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"

Best Actress in a TV Movie or Mini-Series

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Frances O'Connor, The Missing
Allison Tolmon, Fargo

Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series

Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Colin Hanks, Fargo
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series

Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Allison Janney, Mom
Michelle Monaghan, True Detective

Best Actor in a TV Movie or Mini-Series

Martin Freeman, Fargo
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

Best Foreign Film

Force Majeure (Sweden)
Gett:  The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (France)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)

Best Animated Film

Big Hero Six
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

Best Original Song

"Big Eyes" Lana Del Ray, "Big Eyes"
"Glory" John Legend and Common, "Selma"
"Mercy Is" Patti Smith and Lenny K, "Noah"
"Opportunity" "Annie"
"Yellow Flicker Beat" Lorde, "The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay, Pt. 1"

Best Original Score

The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Gone Girl
Birdman
Interstellar

Looking over the list, I don't really see any surprises.  Except maybe for Jennifer Aniston being nominated for anything and the inclusion of Tim Burton's Big Eyes, which I haven't heard a lot of people talking about.  Even the TV categories (which you guys know I will never be current on) don't hold a lot of upsets.  Mainly because I'm so far behind I've never even seen these shows.

So there you have it.  I know it's a day late, but it's finals week.  You're lucky I'm lucid.  As usual, links go to movies I've already reviewed while bold type are movies I haven't seen.  Also as usual, the latter drastically outweighs the former.  I really am going to have to get off my ass and get to the theater in these last couple of weeks.

The Illusionist (2010)

  This isn't the one you're probably thinking of.  This is a French animated film nominated for an Oscar back in 2011.  The other one has Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti.

This is an odd, sad little movie.  It's better than The Triplets of Belleville but that's about all I can say in its defense.

Tatischeff is a Parisian magician who finds himself pushed into ever more obscure venues as stage acts give way to rock and roll bands.  While performing in a pub in Scotland, Tatischeff meets a young woman named Alice, who still believes magic is real.  Despite his mounting debts, Tatischeff does everything he can to prolong her sense of wonder.

This was a very difficult movie for me for me to connect with emotionally, probably because there is almost no dialogue.  Instead, I was forced to judge the characters on action alone and, frankly, Alice comes off as kind of a brat.  She's not bitchy or rude, but her sense of entitlement that someone else was going to magically get her whatever she wanted, got on my last nerve.  Also, the sad decline of the other performers was just too depressing.  I cared more about what was going to happen to them than I did to the two main characters.

I was wrong before.  There was one other thing that I liked about this movie and that was the landscapes.  The background animation of the Scottish lochs and some of the countryside scenes were so beautiful I wanted to screenshot them and use them as artwork.  If only for that, I can see why it was nominated.

Sinister (2012)

I recently re-watched this one with a friend I used to work with.  I finally got around to replacing the TV that Rob took when he moved out and I wanted to test it out, so I invited my friend for movie night.  She had never seen Sinister and, since I have apparently burned out every other friend I have with regard to horror movies, I jumped at the chance to show it to her.  She enjoyed the film but told me that if she had been watching it by herself, she would have turned it off at the first jump scare and then started texting everyone she knew so she wouldn't feel alone. I feel that proves the success of this movie.  I know I was struck once again by the effectiveness of the sound effects.  I don't have a surround sound set-up any more, but I still felt like this was one of the best atmospheric movies I have seen in a long time.
Originally posted:  6/10/13    I subjected Rob and Christy to this one last night.  I don't know if they'll ever let me pick a horror movie again.  I've gotten pretty jaded, considering that every advertisement for the latest horror flick uses the words "intensely scary!" or "scariest movie ever" or "you will pee yourself in fear!"  And then I see them and I come away dry-pantsed.

This movie, though, is the real deal.  I kept getting more excited the more I watched.  It hit all the right categories.

Good mythology:  10 out of 10
Good creature/special effects:  9 out of 10
Creepy-ass imagery:  8 out of 10
Creepy-ass soundtrack:  9 out of 10

I only took a couple of points off because all the really disturbing shit was already in all the trailers which detracts a bit for me.  I'm tempted to add them back, however, just based on the possibility of a cool Halloween costume.

True crime writer Ellison (Ethan Hawke) has spent the last ten years chasing the elusive scent of success.  His latest venture is to move his wife and two children into the house previously inhabited by a family that was ritualistically murdered.  You know, for research.  Ellison soon finds he's out of his depth when he starts watching a set of home movies he finds in the otherwise empty attic instead of turning them over to the police.  Ellison violates the first rule of horror films:  By putting his desire for fame ahead of his family's well-being, he sows the seeds of his own destruction.

You gotta love a clearly defined morality.

Anyway, he figures out that each roll of film is a gruesome murder of a family, with the added punch of one child just going missing.  He reaches out to a local professor (Vincent D'onofrio) to get some help with a symbol found at all of the crime scenes and discovers the legend of the Eater of Children.  Then shit really goes down.

Domino (2005)

  I live to be as cool as Domino Harvey.  If even half the shit in this movie is true, that was one of the most badass chicks to ever walk the face of the Earth.

Domino (Keira Knightley) is the daughter of a Hollywood movie star and a former model.  She could have turned into a A-list socialite, but instead gave up a career as a model for Ford and became a bounty hunter under Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke).  Domino, Ed, and their third partner, Choco (Edgar Ramirez), run bonds out of Los Angeles for a man named Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo), until a simple assignment turns into a clusterfuck of missing millions, a one-armed man, and the Mob.

This movie makes me happy on so many levels.  It's got sex, humor, so much violence, crazy shenanigans, celebrity hostages, mysticism, mescaline, and Jerry Springer.  Shake all that up, set it on fire and you have Domino.  If that's not enough, it was directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Richard Kelly, the guy who wrote Donnie Darko.  It's amazing.

My Life in Ruins (2009)

  Christy had recommended this to me a long time ago, back when she was allowed to pick movies once a month but it was already in my Netflix queue then so I watched I Hate Valentine's Day instead.  I chose poorly.  This is a much better, or at least much less annoying, film.

Georgia (Nia Vardalos) moved to Greece to be a history professor but works as a tour guide instead.  The groups she takes around are more interested in shopping and ice cream than they are in history and culture, a fact that Georgia hates.  Her boss (Bernice Stegers) assigns her the worst equipment, hotels, and tourists in an effort to make her quit, even going so far as to agree to let a fellow tour guide, Nico (Alistair McGowan), have her stake if he can turn her group of tourists against her.  But with the help of a ribald widower (Richard Dreyfuss) and a hirsute bus driver (Alexis Georgoulis), Georgia rediscovers her joie de vivre.

There are no surprises here, but it's not trying to reinvent the genre, just tell a decent enough story with a few laughs.  Vardalos's particular brand of humor works in this setting and it seems age-appropriate.  I would give it a C+ on a grading scale.

There was one thing that stuck out at me after seeing this film and Dodgeball.  You wouldn't think those two movies would have anything to do with each other, but both feature actresses pretending to be disgusted by their real life husbands.  Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller have been married since 2000, and Vardalos has been married to Ian Gomez (Andy from Cougar Town) since 1993.  Gomez has a small part in this as a hotel manager who attempts to extort sex from Georgia in exchange for a stamp.  It's a little thing, but I thought it was a funny coincidence that I would happen to watch them back to back since I can't think of another movie off-hand that features that kind of relationship.

Dodgeball (2004)

  I have never been a big Ben Stiller fan.  I have softened towards him in recent years, mostly thanks to Tropic Thunder, but a lot of his earlier work I find derivative and annoying.  With that in mind, I thought I would re-watch one and see if it was still awful or if I was being unfair towards it.

Peter (Vince Vaughn) owns a small local gym.  Unfortunately, his soft-heartedness and lack of ambition prevents him from collecting dues owed by his members and his gym is being foreclosed on by the bank.  They have sent a lawyer, Kate (Christine Taylor), to work with Peter on getting his gym in order before it is bought by Globo-Gym, a huge fitness corporation run by White Goodman (Ben Stiller).  Goodman is determined to run Peter out of business and to nail Kate, so when he finds that Peter has entered a team to the National Dodgeball Championship in Las Vegas in the hopes of winning $50,000 to pay off the bank, Goodman enters a team as well.  After a tense showdown between the two groups in the local bar, legendary dodgeball coach Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn) offers to coach the Average Joe's to victory.

This was not nearly as bad as I remember it being.  It has its off-putting moments but overall it's a decent comedy.  Ben Stiller is almost physically unrecognizable which helped me distance my dislike for him from this movie.  It also has good supporting help from Justin Long, Alan Tudyk and Stephen Root.  There are also a number of great cameos, particularly near the end of the movie.

This film has a huge fanbase already, so if you've never seen it, you'll probably like it.  I still wouldn't own it, but I'm not going to rush to find the remote if I come across it on cable.