Making Memories; Movie Memories - 300, 3000 Miles to Graceland, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

We watched 3 movies over the long weekend. Here's our recap starting with...

300

Release Date- March 9, 2007
Directed by- Zach Snyder
Produced by- Mark Canton,Bernie Goldmann,Gianni Nunnari,
Jeffrey Silver, and Frank Miller
Screenplay by- Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael B. Gordon
Staring- Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West,
Vincent Regan, and Rodrigo Santoto
Gross Revenue- $456,068,181
Awards- 300 won "Best Fight" at the MTV Movie Awards

Summary- 300 tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Persians under the rule of King Xerxes have already taken over some of the Hellenic city-states, and now threaten Sparta and Athens. King Leonidas of Sparta is left with two options: he will either have to sacrifice himself for the well-being of Sparta or watch it burn to the ground. Choosing the former, Leonidas forms an army of 300 Spartan warriors to block the narrow passage of Thermopylae. The 300 are accompanied by about 700 Thespians who protect the flanks of the passage, and combined, the forces manage to slay tens of thousands of Persians and prevent their entry into Hellas for several days. However, Ephialtes, a reject of the Spartan Army gets his revenge by showing Xerxes a secret goat passage up the flanks of the passage. The story depicts the epic last stand of the finest Spartan soldiers who are aware of their fate, but motivated by "honor and glory", see the battle as their duty to protect the rest of Greece for as long as possible.

Eric's Review- One of the coolest action movies of all time. In my top ten for sure. Comic book style slow motion action, strong acting and lots of battle! Whats not to love? I'll tell you, the hunchback character sucks and they went a little over the top with the oracle monster guys and weird things from Persia. Other than that its a nearly flawless victory for the team that put this one together. The make up team lost them a star.

****- 4 out of 5 stars.

Kia's Review- One of my favorite movies of all time. It's full of action and guys with their shirts off...really, what more could I ask for! :-) Seriously though, this movie is awesome. I love the comic book style. I agree with Eric that they went a little over-the-top with some of the characters but all in all it was fantastic. I'm crazy about Gerard Butler and have loved him in everything I've seen, so it's no surprise that he was the stand out for me. I believed every step of the way that he was the King of this great warrior city. Also, I loved the relationship they showed between him and his wife. It's so subtle and yet so romantic and his final line, "My Queen! My wife. My love...", *sigh*. The other stand out for me was David Wenham. I think he's a great actor and I believe that having him narrate the show was a BRILLIANT choice. My favorite line of his, "Remember us." As simple an order as a king can give. "Remember why we died." For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. "Remember us," he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie." *chills* Ugh, I love this movie so so so much! I forgive the make-up artist for the characters that were over this top...this movie was an epic win in my opinion! 5 stars all the way!!! *****

Movie #2-

3000 Miles to Graceland

Release Date- February 23, 2001
Directed by-Demian Lichtenstein
Produced by- Demian Lichtenstein, Eric Manes, Elie Samaha,
Richard Spero, and Andrew Stevens
Written by- Richard Recco and Demian Lichtenstein
Staring- Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, Christian Slater, and Jon Lovitz
Gross Revenue- $18,720,175
Awards- 3000 Miles to Graceland was nominated for five 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Kevin Costner), Worst Supporting Actress (Courteney Cox), Worst Screenplay and Worst Screen Couple (Kurt Russell and either Costner or Cox) but failed to win any of those categories. (Had to add that...cuz I thought it was funny!)

Summary- It was an ingenious enough plan: rob the Riviera Casino's count room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But Thomas Murphy decided to keep all the money for himself and shot all his partners, including recently-freed ex-con Michael Zane. With $3.2 million at stake, the Marshals Service closing in, and single mom Cybil Waingrow and her son Jesse constantly confounding things, Michael must track down Murphy.

Kia's Review- Well, this movie did very poorly when it was in theaters and I can see why. Cool action in the beginning and then very very slow the rest of the way through. PLUS, they killed off the black guy in the beginning and I liked him the best so...it was kinda over from there for me. :-) There were definitely parts of it that I enjoyed and I was mildly entertained through a lot of it but it's just not my cup of tea. Didn't hate it but wouldn't watch it again. 2 out of 5. **---

Eric's Review- Time to get rid of this one. A cool show with some major pace issues. Love the first 30 min or so but the rest of the movie kind of gives me a stomach ache. Highlight of the show is Kurt Russell singing and dancing as Elvis during the closing credits. **--- 2 out of 5 stars.

And thirdly...

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Release Date- February 4, 1994
Directed by-Tom Shadyac
Produced by-James G. Robinson
Written by- Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac, and Jim Carrey
Staring- Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, and Dan Marino
Gross Revenue- $107,217,396

Summary- He's the best there is. In fact, he's the only one there is! He's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Ace is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark, stakes out the Miami Dolphins and woos and wows the ladies. Whether he's undercover, under fire or underwater, he always gets his man . . . or beast!

Eric's Review- Great comedy showcasing the old Jim Carrey that we all grew to love. I was reluctant to dust off this old comedy and watch it again, but I gotta admit I loved seeing it again. Right from the start with him smashing up his UPS package while delivering it, I had a smile on my face. My favorite scene is the one in the mental institution and my favorite line is: "Dan Marino should die of ghonarea and rot in hell, would you like a cookie?" said by the little old librarian lady from Ghostbutsters. ****- 4 out of 5 stars

Kia's Review- Jim Carrey is funny and I don't care what anyone else says. True, he's quirky and makes strange faces (Faces that remind me of Clarence Strohn WHOM I ADORE) and is a little over the top sometimes but I think he's great! I have yet to see a movie he's in that I don't like. So, that's my opinion on him and you're certainly entitled to yours. Now, that being said...I can now give you my review of the movie. Eric's had this movie the whole time we've known each other and we've never watched it because he always said the second one is better and the first one isn't really worth watching....blah blah blah. So, this was my first time seeing it and I LOVED IT! I thought the story was clever and I loved all the animals. Although the acting wasn't fantastic and the outfits were awfully I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was funny and charming and Jim Carrey was delightfully strange! Awesome movie, so glad we own it!
5 Stars from me! *****

That's it for now. And for anyone still waiting on our Disney World post...I promise it's coming. It's all ready to go, just waiting for the pictures to arrive! But here's a pic of my cutie, just to tide you over! :-)