Making Memories; Movie Memories - Airplane, Alice in Wonderland, and The King's Speech

We watched 3 movies over the long Holiday weekend, but one was from Netflix so it doesn't fall in line Alphabetically. :-) First movie we watched was movie number 6...which actually should be 7 but the next movie in line, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, we let Scott Butler borrow for a bit in Kung Fooey and we haven't been up to OBT to get it back. Anyways, here's movie 6-7 :-)

Airplane

Release Date-July 2, 1980
Directed by-Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
Produced by- Jon Davison and Howard W. Koch
Written by-Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
Staring- Robert Hays, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julie Hagerty,
Leslie Nielsen, and Peter Graves
Gross Revenue-$83,453,539
Awards-In 2000, the American Film Institute listed Airplane! as number ten on its list of the 100 funniest American Films.

Summary- This is a spoof of the airport disaster movies. When the crew of an airplane are struck by some form of virus, the fate of the passengers depends on an ex-war pilot who is the only one able to land the plane safely! The passengers represent a selection of interesting wacky characters who seem to take every word for its literal meaning.

Kia's Review- Airplane was actually very funny. I was a little reluctant about it because I'd seen it once when Eric and I were dating and couldn't remember anything from it so I figured it was lame and I blocked it out. But that was not the case! This movie was a goofy, raunchy comedy and I loved it! My favorite part were anytime anyone was speaking jive and this sequence "Dude says: My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We're bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hours. We're coming in from the north, below their radar. Chick says: When will you be back? Dude says: I can't tell you that. It's classified." I don't know why, but that was seriously funny to me! Also, I laughed at...well...just about everything else in the movie! So so so funny! Glad we own this one for sure! ***** 5 stars from Kia

Eric's Review- For me, Airplane is one of those classic comedy's that will never die. In my opinion it was the chief of the so called "raunchy" comedies of its day competing with movies like Caddyshack. What puts Airplane in my top 10 comedies of all time is two main things: 1- They went for every joke possible. If there was something even remotely funny there, no matter how hard it was they went for it, even if it was for a two second laugh, they made it happen. That's dedication to the craft that a lot of comedies don't have. 2-Universal appeal. This comedy attempts jokes along the full spectrum of comedy, from word play to physical comedy to just ridiculousness. Doing this allows it to be funny to more people as everyone has a different sense of humor, and this show has something for all kinds of tastes. ("Holy Grail" is another movie that uses these two to it's great advantage,) It two gets a 5 out of 5 *****

And since it was mentioned, I thought I'd add Eric's current top ten list for Comedy:

(there is no order as they are always jocky-ing for position and it depends on his mood at the time) :-)

-Monte Python and the Holy Grail

-Airplane

-Ghostbusters

-Spinal Tap

-Office Space

-Anchorman

-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

-Ace Ventura 2

-Wedding Crashers

-The Hangover

Next movie....

Alice in Wonderland

Release Date- March 5, 2010
Directed by- Tim Burton
Produced by- Richard D. Zanuck, Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd, and Jennifer Todd
Screenplay by- Linda Woolverton
Staring- Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter,
Crispin Glover, and Mia Wasikowska
Gross Revenue- $1,024,299,904
Awards- Academy Awards: Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction, Kid's Choice Awards: Favorite Movie Actor, Teen Choice Awards: Best Fight

Summary- Alice, an unpretentious and individual 19-year-old, is betrothed to a dunce of an English nobleman. At her engagement party, she escapes the crowd to consider whether to go through with the marriage and falls down a hole in the garden after spotting an unusual rabbit. Arriving in a strange and surreal place called "Underland," she finds herself in a world that resembles the nightmares she had as a child, filled with talking animals, villainous queens and knights, and frumious bandersnatches. Alice realizes that she is there for a reason--to conquer the horrific Jabberwocky and restore the rightful queen to her throne.

Eric's Review- Great show, I really appreciated the Tim Burton style on this film. Alice has always been one of the strangest fairytals out there and if any of them deserved Burton's spin, it was this one. Great colors and themes and I really enjoyed the costume work, especially the last outfit she wears on the boat at the end. Depp was good although maybe a bit over the top at times but I suppose the character asked for it. We originally saw this movie in 3-D which was a great dis-service to the show. For me 3-D doesn't allow the watcher to soak in perifrial details in the same way because our eyes are forced onto whatever prevelent 3-D Item is dominating the screen. For this reason and for the headaches it causes, I dislike 3-D in every way. :-) Anyway I was glad to be watching this show in beautiful 2-D HD. ****- 4 out of 5 stars

Kia's Review- Fun movie. I'm kind of disappointed that Disney got a hold of it, I'd like to see what Tim Burton could do with it if he didn't have to appeal to Disney's audience but, overall, I don't think Disney ruined it. I agree with Eric that it's much better in 2-D but I think all movies are so...there's that. My favorite part of this movie was all of Alice's costumes. She got to wear so many fantastic outfits, my favorite being her blue coat outfit at the very end. (It's Eric's favorite too!!) Here's some pictures that I stole from the interwebs so don't mind the signature going through them, just look at the awesomeness that is her outfit.:-O Seriously? Such a luck girl. Anyway, I thought, with the exception of Anne Hathaway, the casting was good, the story was good, the movie was beautiful to look at...even Johnny's creepy make-up. I believe this movie was a success, despite Disney taking over. ****- 4 out of 5

And thirdly, our netflix movie...

The King's Speech
Release Date- 7 January 2011
Directed by- Tom Hooper
Produced by- Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Gareth Unwin
Screenplay by- David Seidler
Staring- Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter
Gross Revenue-$414,211,549
Awards- Winner winner, chicken dinner. Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Picture. Golden Globe: Best Actor.

Summary- Tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.

Kia's Review- Honestly, this film was cinematic perfection. The acting was flawless, the whole movie was flawless. Kind of expected it to be boring...boring it was not. It was amazing. No question, 5 stars. *****

Eric's Review- We were unable to see this film in the theater and now I wished we would have. This show was a triumph in film making. Perfection in almost every way. Not much to say about it other than if you have not seen this show, it is time. It is the type of film that alters you, you will be a better person because of seeing this show. All of the awards given to this film were well earned. The acting was exquisit, the script was great and the film making well executed. ***** perfect 5 out of 5