Well it has been a den of sickness at the Patz household this past week. As the week progressed, I continued to get worse and I manged to infect Melanie just in time for the weekend. Joy!
With few channels on TV and only so many hours that we could sleep, we were able to download all of the movies on our wishlist that are currently available. Most were ok. None felt like a waste of time (except A Town Called Panic = crap!). Two were head and shoulders above the rest though.
RANGO
This one you’ve probably heard of. Johnny Depp stars as a chameleon lost in the desert in this animated tale. If you’ve seen any images from the movie you know that the detail is amazing. Probably the best I’ve seen.
You might be expecting a standard Pixar/Disney-like story but there is something different about this tale. I think a heavy-duty movie buff could point it out, but I’m not sure what it is. It is definitely more adult (grown up) but there is more than that. Maybe it is the pacing or the way the jokes are formulated? Maybe it is the character design? I wouldn’t take my young nephews or nieces to see it just because the main villain is a little too scarey.
If you are an adult, I think these differences could be part of the appeal. You get an animated tale that isn’t quite as predictable. Overall, it is one of my favorite movies of the few I’ve seen this year. Recommended.
GET LOW
Get Low stars Robert Duvall and Bill Murray in a tale about a hermit and his plans for his own funeral party. It is a very Robert Duvall-y kind of movie with rich characters, old people, great dialog and plenty of humor and heartache.
Melanie and I both really loved this movie. I’m willing to go as far as to say that it is the best film I’ve seen this year. The question we asked each other afterwards is “How did we know about this movie?” It was released last year and has been sitting on our wishlist. How did it get there? I think it must have been from a high critic and audience rating over at Rotten Tomatoes.
This one was a little tougher for us to find but Redbox had it. Highly Recommended.
Jason Patz 