The Movie I Watched Last Night XLVIII
Do you really care what I think of the movies I watch? I've held off on publishing this entry because I can't really think of anything important or interesting to say. This might be the last entry of this sort. We'll see.

Dec. 22, 2002: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Surely you've seen this already. Maybe 17 times. Me? I've only seen it once, and not surprisingly, I quite liked it. I don't think it's as mature a movie as the first installment -- this one seems much more straight-to-video game -- but the Tolkien mythos continues to expand and delight. I'll have to rewatch the first one again -- and this one again, too, natch -- before I can really know how I feel. My question to you is: Will they remake the Hobbit?

Dec. 23, 2002: The Year Without Santa Claus
Lovely, lovely Rankin-Bass. The irritating Shirley Booth stars as narrator Mrs. Claus, who retells the tale of the year Santa Claus -- as voiced by Mickey Rooney -- decided to hang his hat and take a breather. While the characterization of Mother Nature falls flat and largely fails, her two sons -- Heat Miser and Snow Miser -- perform quite brilliantly. Watch this just for the paired Dick Shawn and George Irving musical numbers.

Dec. 26, 2002: Pleasantville
Usually, I'm pretty loath to watch movies more than once when there's, oh, so many movies I haven't seen yet, but watching this with my folks before heading back to Boston after Christmas week was a wonderful way to wrap up the visit. The concept -- getting sucked into a TV show -- is wonderful, and several cast members stand out. The ever-excellent William Macy is underused, but Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon take to their new personas quite well. Interesting political undertones as the film's plot begins to parallel the civil rights movement.

Jan. 7, 2003: Airplane II: The Sequel
It's been a long time since I've seen Airplane, but I didn't really warm up to this followup until about halfway through the movie. Lloyd Bridges is amazing. Chuck Connors briefly shines as the Sarge. William Shatner provides a fun self-parody. And Rip Torn hides in the woodwork. People seem to think that this was better than its precursor, but I don't see how that's possible. Netflix, here I come.