The Big Screen

I've seen some really strange movies over the years. An example that comes to mind is John Waters' movie Pink Flamingos. However, a couple nights ago we saw a movie that tops my all time strange movie list. It was called Napoleon Dynamite and was put out through MTV films (that should have been a clue to expect something odd). Dianne borrowed it from a co-worker. I thought the best part of the movie was the opening credits -- very clever. For me the movie went down hill from there. The first half or so was a series of seemingly disjointed scenes that followed an odd collection of nerdy characters. It came together a bit towards the end….sort of. I admit there were some very funny slapstick episodes, but overall the writing, acting, photography, etc. was just too strange for me.

Although we're not big movie goers, we did see a few movies over the holidays. The Incredibles was a cute animated feature from Disney. I didn't think it was a Disney classic, but it had a nice story and was very entertaining. I like biographies and blues, so I enjoyed Ray that emphasized the early life of Ray Charles. Finally, we saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I like Bill Murray and enjoyed this film. It reminded me of watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries as a kid except this was an insiders look at an under-funded Cousteau expedition. I didn't think it was quite as good as Lost in Translation, but a solid film.

Just remember, don't play with dynamite -- especially Napoleon Dynamite!