The Secret of Kells was a so-so story told with some of the most eye-catching animation I've seen in a while. It was kind of Samurai Jack-y; very cool. I particularly loved the snow that was little Celtic knots.
Van Helsing was just as bad as everyone said it was. *Sigh*. Nice hat, though.
Koyla, Mrityudand, and Sailaab were all Madhuri Dixit movies. Koyla had Amrish Puri as the bad guy, and that's always a good choice (non-Bollywood fans would recognize him as Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom but I love him best as the very Bond-villain Mogambo in Mr. India. Man, he was awesome in that). These three were all pretty forgettable movies, though.
Heroes, Season 4 was their last season. As much as the show never really found its footing, never got more than mildly interesting, I have to give it props for not tanking the ending like BSG or Lost. Maybe not having an end in mind and having to wrap everything up at the last minute because you've been cancelled can be a good thing.
The Venture Brothers, Season 4, Volume 1 was, of course, awesome. Particularly the first episode, told out of sequence with a number in the corner that keeps changing value. The minute I figured out what that number meant - that was sublime. (I also like the ep when Dean discovers the world of prog rock). The boys are moving through adolescence in a convincing, often emotionally moving way. For a show that's mostly about terribly inappropriate jokes, the details of this family are rendered with great love. Yes, I'm deeply admiring of this show.
And finally, how did I love the movie The Brothers Bloom? Let me count the ways.
- First off, the character names come from my all-time #1 favorite book EVAH, Ulysses. Brothers Bloom, you had me from the title.
- The prologue about their childhood told in verse? Pretty much clinched it. I was in love before the credits started.
- Rachel Weisz's character Penelope is so beyond awesome. She's a 30-something shut-in who collects hobbies by learning how to do things from books. (Of course I love her). She plays all these instruments, speaks all these languages, makes her own pinhole cameras - she even juggles chainsaws.
- You don't have to have read anything to get the movie, but the subtle way literary references are woven through the story was just delightful. But like Bloom says, his brother constructs cons the way dead Russians write novels.
- This was the movie that moved Mark Ruffalo in my mind from some guy who always looks familiar, like I've seen him in stuff, to an actor I instantly recognized. And just in time, as he's taking over the Hulk role from Ed Norton.
- This movie has one of the best, most perfect kisses in it. You realize some things about Penelope that no other moment could convey so well.
- The music is perfect for the scenes, too. I particularly loved the epiphany (because any movie that takes its title from a James Joyce novel has to have an epiphany) set to Cat Stevens. Man, perfection.
- The nearly Harpoesque Japanese demolitions expert Bang-Bang. Pay attention; when Stephen says she only speaks "like three words of English", you can start counting her dialogue. Karaoke aside, it's exactly three, well chosen, words.
- The message is pretty cool too. It certainly encapsulates my own philosophy of life.
- I've watched this movie more than a dozen times since. It might just be a case of one of those movies that feels like the writer went inside my own head and created my perfect thing, but I think it's pretty near perfect.
So, on that note, here's the trailer:
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