Life is a Highway

I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t watched The Departed but suspect this is the week it will happen. Instead I treated myself to Poseidon. Oh, did I say treated? It was more by default. It was coming on HBO and we were going to watch Miguel Coto fight afterward. Interesting tidbit about the Diva, I adore professional boxing. It’s the one sport J and I will watch together. Actually, my entire family is into boxing. I used to watch it all the time with my father.

I’ve never seen the original but according to my husband, it’s a classic. Poseidon tells the story of a cruise gone to hell. A rogue wave turns the ship and the passenger’s lives upside down. In true disaster film tradition, the cast is loaded with names. Richard Dreyfuss, Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Kevin Dillon, Andre Braugher and even Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas shook her lady lumps on the boat.

It was a special effects-laden movie. While it wasn’t nearly as artful as Titanic, it wasn’t clunky like Clash of the Titans either. Mercifully, it was only an hour and a half. Another 20 minutes and there would have been problems. The success of disaster films depends largely on the smarts of the people trying to overcome the situation. Dense people don’t last long in the movies while the smart folks and those who can take instruction usually make it to the end. The movie didn’t change my life but at least I wasn’t pissed to have spent 90 minutes watching the movie.

Va-Room. The weekend included another movie Cars. I’m a huge fan of the new children’s movies. They offer just as much for the adults as they do the children. Madagascar is a favorite of mine. If you don’t fall down on the floor in giggles once you meet the head of the lemurs, I’m not sure that you’re human.

Cars is a typical message movie involving a cocky racecar Lightening McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) who learns the lesson that you can’t do anything alone and you must slow down to enjoy life. After being stranded in a small town on his way to the “big” race, he learns the importance and comfort of community with the help of Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Doc (Paul Newman) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy).

I found the message to community and isolation to be a bit heavy for a kid’s film. Too many messages for kids to grasp. The Academy Award nominated song Our Town was especially emotional with its accompanying visuals. Overall, I though the soundtrack was the highlight. Tunes by Rascall Flatts, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer and James Taylor made the movie pop. The comedy relief in the movie was the hysterical Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) and his side kick Guido (Guido Quaroni).

What movies did you see this weekend?