Was it just a Dream?

>One of the reason’s I love the holidays is the movies! For a studio’s movie to be nominated for an Oscar, they must be released, in one form or another, by December 31st. Because studios their movies to be fresh in the minds of the Academy, most movies that could be considered for Oscars are released in November-December. This is also to our benefit, because this means during the Christmas holidays there are LOTS of movies playing that don’t make us want to kill ourselves in the way that Superman Returns did.

In the past 5 days, I’ve seen 4 movies. Now these kinds of numbers remind me of my lonely high school years, but 3 of the 4 were while I was at home and were with my nephew and niece (Charlotte’s Web, Happy Feet) and one was with some friends on Christmas Day night.(Night at the Museum). I enjoyed all these movies for different reasons. Although I thought Charlotte’s Web was bland, I was amused by the animals and watching my kiddies laugh at the rat! Happy Feet was infectious. The music was so fun, and the animation was unbelievable. Because I love the latino culture, I loved Mumbel’s posse led by Robin Williams. I also loved the environment tone the movie took, which led me to have a discussion with my nephew about the environment and recycling. Al Gore would have cried.

Ben Stiller was funny as always in NatM. Can anyone explain why Owen Wilson wasn’t in the credits for this movie. His part was way more than a cameo, and this movie was nothing to be ashamed of. It seemed strange to me! Oh the Golden Guys (Van Dyke, Rooney) were Hilarious!

However, last night I saw Dreamgirls. This movie blew every movie I had seen before it this month out of the water. This was the first movie I had ever been to where I wanted to clap after a musical number. The AMAZING Jennifer Hudson received serveral rounds of applause after her heartbreaking “And I am Telling you” I can honestly say that I’ve never seen such a powerful scene on screen that didn’t use CGI or a cast of thousands. Just one lonely American Idol reject’s soul literally crushing before our very eyes. Beyonce, Foxxe and Eddie Murphy were great, but the screen felt lonely without Jennifer. You wait breatlessly for her to return to the screen, and when she does, she doesn’t disappoint. This was also the first movie I had ever been to, where the entire audience clapped at the end of it. And not cause it was over, but because we had witnessed a great, entertaining and special movie. This movie isn’t perfect, but it is really enjoyable and Jennifer Hudson is worth the ticket price alone. Oh, and watch for the Jaleel White (Urkle) cameo in the first scene as the stage manager. Side Note: I didn’t have to look up the actor’s name who played Urkle. I already knew it. This is indeed a sad day.