DVR recorded movie ratings #21

Wow, I have no idea how I went from hardly watching any movies in a week to watching six since my last posting. Having a free HBO and Cinemax weekend, how can I not go through the schedule and see what movies are playing so I can record them? Sometimes these are great weekends, but most times they are a bummer only because when these premium channels are free for the weekend, they end up showing cheesy old movies mixed in with new stuff. Not all the movies listed are from the free preview channels.

• History Of The Eagles: I've had this recorded for quite some time and let me tell you, I am kicking my own ass as to why the fuck did I take so long to watch this music documentary. It was great, it was informative it was fun and sad, and it was 3 hours long. The first 90 minutes has to do with how the band came to be and old interviews entwined with new interviews from the band members and other people who became involved with the Eagles (thank you Linda Ronstadt!). The other 90 minutes had to do with them getting back together after being apart for 11 years for the Hell Freezes Over concert tour. I hadn't realized how long ago that tour was until I saw this documentary. As a birthday gift, I took my dad to that concert and he had the time of his life. There we were swaying ( a bit) and singing along to a band that has always made my dad have a smile on his face and the look of nostalgia upon him was priceless. So, as I was watching this documentary I thought of my dad and how much fun we had that night. he was mesmerized and I was enjoying every minute of seeing my dad so happy. I wanted to call him up and tell him what I was watching, but what was he going to get out of it? Nothing, he doesn't have cable. So, I went to Amazon.com/HistoryoftheEagles and I put that on my shopping list for future use. This documentary has an advantage because it is close to my heart, I give this 5 Daisy-girls. Great band, great music, great times.
• Restless: This movie is going to sound way more depressing than what it seems like. A teen whose parents died in a car crash likes to draw chalk outlines of his body on the ground also likes to attend strangers funerals meets a girl who is dying of cancer. These two form a friendship and soon start to fall for each other. She gets the bad news that she doesn't have much longer to live and has accepted that she will die sooner than later. He doesn't really want to acknowledge the fact that she will die and tries to make the most of what little time they have left. It is a sweet movie and sad at times, but overall, it is a movie in which you wish you were a part of their bonding friendship. I give this movie 5 Daisy-girls.
• Broken Embraces: For me to not really like Penelope Cruz much, I sure end up watching more of her movies than I ever cared for. But, as I've mentioned before, I don't like her acting in English movies, but I love her in Spanish movies. This movie is about a blind man who is affected by the death of someone from his past. Told in flashbacks, he (wasn't blind at the time) is a director and falls in love with Penelope's character, only she is married to an older man her used to be her boss and helped her out financially when her father was dying. So, she feels that she needs to stay with him as a payback of everything that he has done. Only, her husband realizes that there is something going on with his wife and the director. So he hires a guy who records Penelope and the director every time they get together. The husband also hires a lady who reads lips and she translates to him what the two are talking about in the recordings. He realizes that she has slipped away and in order to keep her to himself, he "accidentally" (lightly) pushes her off the staircase. She then feels compelled to stay with him and tells her lover director that she can't leave her husband or else he will bash the movie (because after all, the husband is the producer). So she decides to stay with him until the movie is complete and the director has finished in the cutting room. Except, that doesn't happen. She shows up at his place all beat up and they both decide to go away together. After some time, they read reviews of how bad the movie was (the husband fucked with the final production to sabotage the movie) and how it was a good thing that the director and actress did not show up to the movie premiere. This angers the director and decide to go back into town and clear some things. Someone follows them in another car and soon you see a crash. Penelope dies and the director becomes blind. His assistant final confesses that she had something to do with the bashing of the movie (under the orders of the producer) and also mentions that he is the dad of her kid (who is now in his 20's and who the director has been telling this flashback story to). This sounds a bit more complicated than how the movie was. The movie was an easy flow to follow, I don't know why I feel my explanation is all over the place. I give this movie 4 Daisy-girls.
• Desert Flower: Okay, this movie is a sad and depressing one. Another foreign film that has to do with a Somalian girl who was circumsized (AKA Female Genitalia Mutilation) at the age of 3, sold to marriage at age 13, ran away from Africa to go to England, and later the United States (became a supermodel), and finally retired to become a UN spokeswoman for female genitalia mutilation (FGM). My husband watched bits of this with me and he commented on how and why could I watch fucked up movies. At times, I know what kind of movie I'm getting myself into, but other times I don't and this was one of them. I thought she just grew up poor, was discovered and became a supermodel. When I've never heard of a movie, I rarely go read further information about it until after I've seen it. I don't care for spoilers, I actually love them, but a part of me doesn't want to watch a movie and know little bits of information that make the movie much more touching. So, I just tend to read the little snippet of information the guide gives me and if it sounds good I record it. A few times, this movie was hard to watch, especially when she was a little girl and when she showed her roommate in England her mutilation. They don't show it, but the looks on their faces say it all. I give this movie 4 Daisy-girls.
• Phil Spector: I did not like this movie. I didn't really know what I was expecting. Maybe a backup story as to what led to the event of Lana Clarkson being shot dead in his house. Maybe how Phil Spector came to be one of the most influential and famous record producers, songwriters... we will ever see. This movie had to do with his defense team and leading up to the trial. There was great music being played, but that was about it Helen Mirren played his sick lawyer and Al Pacino played Phil Spector. The only thing I got out of it was that Lana was shot in close range (gun inside her mouth) and that Phil had pin-drop blood splatter in only 3 places on his clothes. The jury can't reach a decision and there is a mistrial. He gets retried again and is sentenced for 19 years to life. I wish there were bands, singers, someone who would say otherwise. The few people from his past ( a few ladies, so it seems) complained that he was  a little off, but no one really came to his defense. I wonder why. I guess this is something I need to read into. On the other hand, now I feel like listening to oldies. I give this movie 1 Daisy-girl.
• Ted:  Stars Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, and the voice of Seth MacFarlane as Ted. As a little kid, Mark gets a teddy bear and he names his Teddy. One night he wishes Teddy could talk and he does. Everyone panics, but is fascinated by it. Teddy goes on talk shows and becomes famous. Years later, Mark is now 35 and in a relationship with Mila. Also, Ted's voice has also matured. Mark and Ted like to smoke pot, watch tv and pretty much bum it. He has a job as a rental car agent, but doesn't work much. Mila on the other hand has a job in downtown (what she does exactly, I don't recall). It comes to the point where she tells Mark that he needs to choose between Ted and her, and he picks her. Ted moves out to his own place and parties like a bachelor. Mark tries to stay away, but since Ted is his best friend since age 8, he feels he can't live without Ted. So, Mila dumps Mark. Giovanni (who I love, love love, but looks creepy as fuck in this movie, except where he dances to Tiffany, and gets all cuuuuute again) has been wanting Ted for a long time, he is obsessed with him, so much that he kidnaps Ted for his own kid. Ted calls Mark (who is trying to reconcile with Mila) and tells him that he is in danger. Mila and Mark go and try to find Ted and they end up in a baseball field, where Giovanni is climbing up  after Ted. He manages to pull Ted's leg and ted rips apart in half. Mila and Mark take Ted home and they try to sew him up to see if Ted comes back. He doesn't, til the next morning. Mila wished Ted would come back to life and when Mark sees this, he instantly purposes to her. They get married. This movie was a bit better than I had thought. I give this 4 Daisy-girls.