Announcing: Movie Monday

My mom and dad watch a lot of movies. I mean, a LOT of movies. They'll plow through 5-10 movies a week. And because they do, they're always looking for new, interesting and entertaining movies to watch. If they're looking, I figure other people might be, too.

Starting today, I'm going to let you know the movies that they watched the previous week. Just in case you would like to know a little something about the movies that are out there.

First, a little background.

The types of movies that they like:

Horror movies, especially zombie movies

Action/Adventure/Thriller movies, with lots of special effects

Foreign films. Better still, foreign horror films.

Odd, unusual, and quirky movies.

Bollywood!!!!

The type of movies they're not big on:

Romantic comedies. They watch them, but they're last on the list.

Anything with Sean Penn in it. Or Mel Gibson. Or Julia Roberts.

Anything too gory. They love horror, but that's more about being scared than grossed out.

This weekend's movies viewed (in no particular order)

The Tourist (starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie) THRILLER/COMEDY

Cute movie, but it couldn't decide at first whether it was supposed to be a thriller or a screwball comedy. It turned out to be a semi-serious thriller with moments of great humor.

Mom gives it - 4 stars out of 10

Rubber (starring nobody you've ever heard of) HORROR

The story of a tire that turns into a murdering psychopath. Yes, you DID hear that right. The tire, through it's thoughts, causes anyone it doesn't like to explode. The whole movie is interspersed with a group of spectators watching through binoculars, then commenting on the movie they're watching. VERY weird, VERY confusing, but oddly compelling. Mom and dad finished watching it just to see what happens at the end. And it wasn't SO horrible that they turned it off.

Mom gives it 2 stars out of 10

Welcome (starring more people you've never heard of) FRENCH DRAMA - Subtitled

The story of a French swim coach that befriends a Kurdish 17-year-old illegal immigrant Iraqi boy that wants to sneak into England from France. His girlfriend is being forced into an arranged marriage, and he's desperate to save her. The swim coach runs into a lot of legal trouble because he associates with the kid. Also enlightening about how people try to sneak onto an island, and the lengths the authorities have gone to stop them. Warning: the movie is very sad, but the characters are great, and it's well acted.

Mom gives it 7 stars out of 10

My Name is Khan (starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, 2 huge Indian stars) INDIAN DRAMA set in the US - Subtitled

The story of a man with Asperger's Syndrome that embarks on a cross-country journey to see the President of the US. It's after 9/11, and he's a muslim that only wants to tell George Bush that his name is Khan, and he is not a terrorist. It also shows how he grew up, came to America, and met and married an Indian woman in San Francisco. In the process, in a convoluted twist that can only happen in Indian film, he ends up saving a community in Georgia that is devastated by a flood. It's a little preachy, but shows all sides to a sensitive subject. SRK (as Shah Rukh Khan is known as) is OK in the title role, but he plays a little less than "functioning" autistic man, in my opinion. The score is beautiful, the characters are great, and the story is interesting. It's kind of like Forrest Gump meets Rainman meets Slum Dog Millionaire (his past experience help him along the way). The best part is that it was filmed in San Francisco, and if you've spent time there or live there, you will see all sorts of familiar sights.

Mom gives it 7 stars out of 10

They watched more movies, but mom wasn't really prepared to critique them. So she'll do a better job next week. And she wants me to tell you not to be afraid of subtitled films. She thinks they make for a better films, because you become so engrossed in the film because you're concentrating so hard to read the words.

If you're interested in learning more about the movies, visit www.imdb.com.

And make sure you let my mom know about any movies you like.