2007 Movies/DVDs S-Z

Scary Movie 4-- Garbage. F

School for Scoundrels— I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this movie before even though it was called something else. I’m pretty sure it starred Billy Bob Thornton, too. C-

School of Life – I’m a Ryan Reynolds fan. I’ll admit it, even if he usually does crappy movies. But this one was different. It was good. It had a good heart and a good message. I’d like to see Reynolds in more movies like these. B+


Sherrybaby— Great performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal, but I just didn’t get into this movie which so many critics and fans liked. It just felt like another “I was so abused growing up that now I’m damaged” movie that’s been done before. B-


Shooter— It was okay. C+


Shrek the Third—theatre— This series loses a little more each time they go back to the well. C

Shut Up and Sing— I thought the whole Dixie Chicks saying they’re not proud of George Bush fiasco was bullshit. We do live in America, where people are free to say such things. Kinda ironic that the rest of the country caught up with the Chicks a few years later. Not that any of the piece of crap talk show hosts or radio station managers would admit they made a mistake… B-


Sicko— Not as eye-opening as Moore’s other films. I mean, we all know the health care system is in the toilet in America. B


Smokin’ Aces-- This movie is all style, little substance. I liked Ryan Reynolds (as usual) as he played against type by not being a wiseass. C+


So Goes the Nation-- A documentary looking at the 2004 Presidential Election and how Ohio factored into it. I was hoping to get some in-depth nuggets here, but the only real thing I took away from it was how “Everyman rancher” George Bush bought his Texas ranch not much earlier than his first run at president. Every politician does it, but he wrapped that rancher tag around him like a cloak. C+


Spider-Man 3—theatre-- I didn’t hate it as much as many people did. It fell into the too many characters problem that super-hero sequels have fallen into since Batman Returns. Some dumb plot coincidences hurt it, and while I like Topher Grace, I would have liked to see a more comic-true bruiser playing Eddie Brock/Venom. B-


Stomp Out Loud!-- amazing. Just shows you that there’s music everywhere. A-


Stranger Than Fiction—Will Farrell plays against type and has a very solid role in what was a much better film than I thought it’d be. B+


Street Fight-- An idealistic younger man takes on the entrenched incumbent in this doc about a mayoral race. A pretty good microscopic look at the problem with politics today. B


Superman: Doomsday-- A story close to my heart as it’s a loose adaptation of one of my favorite comic book runs. The knock-down, drag-out fight between Supes and Doomsday was pretty cool, but the movie had to pack too much into too little. Sadly some of the biggest cuts were from the most effective parts of comic series: how his death affected the world’s population. And the movie also couldn’t make a mystery out of his return from death like the comics did (I was in my comic shop EVERY week to make sure I got the next installment). Quick note: the extras included a great look at the comics this movie was based on and included interviews with most of the creators of them. And two final notes: I like much of Anne Heche’s work, but she was miscast here as Lois Lane. I never bought it. And Superman’s face is pure ugly. Whoever approved the massive cheekbones that were drawn as two gigantic “scars” on direct frontal views should get slapped around. B (movie), A- (extras)


Talledega Nights-- Another goofy Will Farrell movie. It is what it is. B-


Transformers-- I wasn’t a fan of the cartoon or the toys, but I read the comics for about 5 years. This was a decent popcorn movie. My quibble with it is how it clumsily injected more mature elements in some scenes to get a PG-13 rating. B


Uncovered: the Whole Truth about the Iraq War-- With the thesis that the Iraq War was pretty much bunged up from the beginning, it wasn’t a real surprise. B-


Who Killed the Electric Car-- Maybe I’m just burned out on politicians/businessmen screwing the average person. I wasn’t as mad as I should have been. And the answer of who killed the electric car was pretty unsatisfying. C+


Why We Fight— An interesting look at how Dwight Eisenhower predicted that we would become a military-based society over 50 years ago, and how we actually have become one. It doesn’t pile all the blame on Darth Bush and his cronies, but they do get their share. B


Wordplay— I so did not get why this movie was held in such high regards. Was it interesting to learn just how hard it is to make a New York Times crossword puzzle? Sure. But that was about it for me. I’m not knocking it, but it got pretty rave reviews for something that was pretty pedestrian. C