Maybe I should have waited and made this my Fun Friday post, but since this is my last official goals list, I figured I’d go ahead and get it out of the way, too.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale — Well, I got this one on DVD from Netflix a couple of weeks ago. It sat on the table for about nine days before I sent it back, unwatched. I might request it again eventually, but there were too many other movies I’d rather watch instead.

27 Dresses — This was a much more enjoyable movie than The Devil Wears Prada by the same filmmakers. As with most “romantic comedies” the biggest problem I had with it is the fact that the hero and heroine have sex before they’ve actually committed to each other/their relationship.

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie — In my Netflix queue.

In Bruges — At the top of my Netflix queue. I think it’s listed as releasing on June 10, so I should be watching this one sometime this month.

The Spiderwick Chronicles — Such a great movie! We went to see it opening weekend. The theater wasn’t overly crowded, and because we went in the evening, it was mostly adults, which for me added to the enjoyment of the outing. Freddie Highmore is a wonderful actor, and I see big things in store for him as he grows up. (Of course, I thought the same thing about Haley Joel Osment, too, and he’s kind of disappeared off the face of the earth.) This is one I’ll be purchasing on DVD eventually.

Jumper — In the top five in my Netflix queue.

The Other Boleyn Girl — In the top five in my Netflix queue.

Penelope — This was very, very, very cute. Another one I’ll purchase when it comes out on DVD. The story writer took a traditional fairytale about finding “true love” and turned it on its ear (nose?) by teaching the protagonist what “true love” and acceptance really mean. The thing I found most odd about this film is that they had some of their British actors using their real accents and some of them using fake American accents (this especially bothered me with James McAvoy, who has the most delightful Scottish accent that we never get to hear). Simon Woods, Mr. Bingley in the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice, is in this film in addition to James McAvoy (Becoming Jane, Narnia/The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), Richard E. Grant (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gosford Park), Peter Dinklage (Prince Caspian), Burn Gorman (Torchwood, Bleak House), Reese Witherspoon, and Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice, Home Alone).

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day — As I mentioned in last Friday’s post, this is the best movie I’ve seen so far in 2008. Frances McDormand (Fargo, Wonder Boys) and Ciaran Hinds (Persuasion 2005, Amazing Grace) are magnificent as the older romantic couple in the story. Amy Adams is, well, Amy Adams (she seems to play this type of role a lot) and stays just this side of annoying as a bubble-headed wanna-be actress who’s juggling three men—one with money to support her in the way she likes (Mark Strong, Stardust, Emma), one with connections to the theatre world who can get her on stage (Tom Payne, Wuthering Heights 2008), and one who is poor—and her true love (Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies). This is a definite “must buy” for me.

The Accidental Husband — Looks like a pretty straight-forward rom-com plot, but if it’s well done, this should be a very fun movie. Especially if Colin Firth gets thwarted! 🙂 I may wait for it to come out on DVD, just depends on what’s going on when it comes out. UPDATE: The release of this film has been pushed from May back to August. Never a good sign.

Inkheart — The release of this film has been pushed back to January 2009 according to IMDb.

Leatherheads — I love football. This is a rom-com set in the 1920s, just as pro football was getting started. Now, I absolutely cannot stand to look at Renee Zellweger, but this looks like a good enough story that I’d be willing to suffer through seeing her on the screen to watch it (though I may opt for seeing it on DVD). UPDATE: Saved on Netflix for when it comes out on DVD.

Made of Honor — With all of the terrible reviews this movie got, I think I’m going to skip it.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian — Seen it TWICE—once on opening night and again the following Friday when I was off work. While it’s not quite as good as far as characterization as the first film, it moves much faster and features m’darling William Moseley (Peter) in a spectacular one-on-one sword fight with the bad guy.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — This is one of those films that it’s best not to think about too much after watching it. Too much analysis and it completely falls apart. It made for a very fun two hours at the theater. They did a great job with the tongue-in-cheek humor about how old Indy is. The scene at the end with the “passing of the hat,” made us all realize that this isn’t just the capstone for Lucas and Spielberg, a way of saying goodbye to Indy after twenty years, it’s the lead-in to a rumored new trilogy featuring Shia LaBeouf (Holes, Transformers). And if the new trilogy is anything like Lucas’s most recent trilogy…heaven help us.

The Happening — The more I’ve seen previews for this movie, the more I’m considering waiting for it to come out on DVD. I’m a huge honking chicken when it comes to scary movies, and as the previews have been saying, this is M. Night Shyamalan’s first R-rated movie. Signs scared the crap out of me when I saw it at the theater, so I know The Happening will be even more frightening. I just hope this doesn’t mean that Shyamalan is going the route of Wes Craven—that he’s not becoming a “horror” film writer. I’ve always loved the suspense that he builds in his films, and with the exception of the cop-out ending of Signs and major plot holes in The Village, he’s been one of my favorite filmmakers.

WALL·E — Now that I’ve seen (too many) previews of this film, I think I’ll wait for it on DVD. Probably for a long time.

Australia — I’d heard rumors about this movie, but we finally saw a preview for it last week before the new Indiana Jones movie. This is a film made entirely by Australians about the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese which drew Oz into World War II. The top-billed cast is stellar: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Kate & Leopold), and David Wenham (Faramir in Lord of the Rings); the rest of the cast is a who’s-who of Australian film and TV.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — Instead of a summer release like last year (timed to coincide with the release of the seventh book), the sixth movie will be a holiday release as per normal.

Star Trek — This is J.J. Abrams’s take on the Star Trek universe, which right now is scheduled to release on Christmas Day. All I have to say for those of you who don’t recognize his name is that he’s the executive producer behind LOST, Alias, Six Degrees, Felicity, and What About Brian?, not to mention his upcoming big-screen debut with Cloverfield. Oh, and Karl Urban is in this movie (as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy)!!!!!

Upcoming/Current Movies I MIGHT see:
Sex and the City: When this one premieres on TBS or TNT or USA, I’ll probably watch it. Before then, though, I most likely won’t make an extreme effort to see it.

Iron Man: If I ever get through the 50+ films already on my Netflix queue, I might see this one.

Get Smart: But only because Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in it.

Hancock: Again, as I mentioned last Friday, I think I may have seen too many previews for this film. But if I have nothing else to do, I might see it.

Journey to the Center of the Earth: Brendan Fraser has been a busy man the last year or so, with three films (that were) slated to release this year (though Inkheart has been pushed back). From the previews, it looks like he’s playing his regular sarcastic, joke-cracking character in this movie. Will be a rental if I see it at all.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe: Hmmm . . . I didn’t watch the last couple of years of the TV show, so I’m not sure I want to see this film. But it might make for an interesting rental.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: While I believe that trying to do another Mummy movie is ill-conceived, the previews actually look pretty good. And it’s got Jet Li in it as the new Mummy, and John Hannah has returned as Jonathan, the somewhat inept but always funny sidekick. What I’ll miss from the original two: ODED FEHR as Ardeth Bay—obviously, since they won’t be in Egypt, they won’t need a Magi to help them figure out what’s going on; Rachel Weisz as Evelyn—it’s never a good sign when they can’t get the original actress back to play a role, and I’m not thrilled with the casting of American actress Maria Bello—who looks nothing like Weisz—as her replacement; and Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep (the mummy)—he’s such a good bad guy.

City of Ember: I’ve seen previews for this post-apocalyptic action/adventure/kids-save-the-population film a couple of times. It looks interesting—but from the previews it also looks like a thinly-veiled propaganda film about questioning authority, standing up against the people in charge, or, in other words, a pro-anarchy film. Now, I know that’s taking a three minute preview pretty far, but it does look like a theme eerily similar to that in Happy Feet.

Quantum of Solace: I’ve only ever watched one Bond movie all the way through, and that was Daniel Craig’s first outing as 007 in Casino Royale I suppose I could probably be talked into going to see this one.

Upcoming Movies I will NOT see:
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan: I don’t see any movies with Adam Sandler in them. And just from the previews that have inundated TV recently, I’ll have no trouble sticking to my guns on this one. I can’t stand Adam Sandler and his puerile “humor.”

Kung Fu Panda: I’ve seen too many trailers, too much promotion, too many promotional tie-ins to be remotely interested in this film.

The Love Guru: I used to like Mike Myers when he was on Saturday Night Live back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. But since he’s started making movies, I don’t find him very funny any more. I’ve tried watching the Austin Powers movies and usually end up turning them off after about twenty or thirty minutes from lack of interest. I can tell from the previews this one will be in a similar vein—raunchy, with the only “humor” in it centered around sexual innuendo.

Step-Brothers: Along with Adam Sandler, Will Farrell is another “actor” whose movies I refuse to see, mostly because I know the so-called humor is going to be juvenile and offensive—stupid jokes/pratfalls for cheap laughs. I prefer more intelligent comedies, thank you very much.