Mingle Movie Review

With the Oscars coming, and sudden free time on our hands, Mr. Mingle and I have made it our mission to see every best picture nominated, as well as most of the movies with people nominated for Best/Supporting Actor/Actress. In fact, we have gotten so excited over the Oscars this year, that we are making a special trip out to Colorado this weekend to watch the show with R&J. (The artichoke dip alone is worth the trip, not to mention the company.) I even attempted to try to get all of the people in my department to join an Oscar pool. It was my attempt to bring a little social levity to the workplace. (Our department is so dysfunctional – I discovered people in other offices that I didn’t even know reported to the same boss.)

Now, I don’t claim to be a movie aficionado, in fact I think you’ll find by my reviews below, that well, descriptive words are not my forte. However, I must say, that I have really wanted to watch all of the movies we’ve seen over the past 2 months – it wasn’t just a case of going because I had to. You have to understand - when we first started dating – Mr. Mingle and I couldn’t have been further apart in our movie tastes. The blockbusters, and romantic comedies that I love, were nothing like the dark Indy movies that he loves. Going to the movies together was a challenge because one of us would have to sometimes go half-heartedly to the other’s choice of film. But I digress…

The Official 2006 Mingle Movie Review

Crash: Enjoyable Film, but not Best Picture worthy in my opinion. It seemed too cleverly packaged. Sure, they were making a point about race, but did they really have to throw (and try to debunk) every single stereotype in 2 hours?

Munich: Good until the last 20 minutes, and then it plummeted. It was as if they realized, “Shit! This is too long – we have to end this thing! Oh, but wait – we still have to slam our message down their throats! Ta –Da!”

Capote: Great Movie – it makes me want to read In Cold Blood, kind of. He was one strange guy, (excellently acted by Phillip Seymour Hoffman), and I had no idea the author of To Kill a Mockingbird was one of his great friends. The most interesting part of this movie to me was the fact that Mr. Mingle and I left the theater with opposite impressions of Capote.

Good Night, Good Luck: Interesting Movie – Although, I expected more from the story – I didn’t realize the whole movie was about a few broadcasts. Although excellently acted and directed, I didn’t feel like all the characters were fleshed out. Can someone tell me why Patricia Clark and Robert Downey Jr’s characters were even in the movie? JP – I know you loved this one – please enlighten me!

Brokeback Mountain: I agree with Burns here, Excellent!

Transamerica: Storyline was interesting but a little blah. The best part of the movie was one moment when I actually felt that Felicity Huffman was a man (becoming a woman) – her acting was impressive.

North Country: This one required the most tissues – cry, cry, cry. Pretty good, but no Erin Brokavich.

Walk The Line: Just seen on Wednesday (now out on video), this is one of my favorites of all. Great acting (pretty people), and call me a sucker for the music. But seriously – it was a great movie!

Constant Gardener: Interesting plot – I enjoyed the originality of it. (But I have no desire to go to Africa.) Well acted, but I’m not sure why Rachel Wiez was nominated. I’m sure her acting was excellent – I did not feel “wowed”.

Syriana: One of my favorites – I loved how the plot slowly came together and it was an interesting view of the oil industry from many sides. I didn’t even understand the plot entirely, but I enjoyed it so much that I would see it again to figure out what I missed the first time.

Hustle and Flow: This one surprised me - I really, really enjoyed it! Had some trouble with the accent...not always sure what was said...but Terrence Howard was great!! And again...sucker for a little music. "It's Hard Out Here for Pimp..."

Seen months ago with Burns:
A History of Violence: Mingle’s pick for most disturbing of the year. I …did…not…like…this. (And yet Mr. Mingle has put it on our Netflix list – do you see how our tastes differ??)