And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself— An interesting look at how things can be perceived and influenced by the media. Good script, acting, directing; especially considering this was a made-for-TV (HBO) movie. B-
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly-- I just wasn’t as moved by this movie as I should have been. It’s not to say the performances and directing weren’t good; I just had issues with who everyone was and how they fit into things and how stretched out some of the scenes were. But the story is amazing: a man becomes nearly completely paralyzed and only has control over his left eyelid, and with the help of an assistant, he writes his autobiography. B-
Enchanted—I thought the movie was cute, and the performances were good. There were plenty of “Easter eggs” for those who have seen most of the Disney fairy tale films over the years. I’d give it a solid “decent enough”. B-
Hitman—Typical action/chase movie about an organization trying to stop a “monster” it created, with double-crossings, a hot chick in tow, and lots of cool action sequences. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t a Bourne movie either. A bald, emotionless Timothy Olyphant can still be an effective actor, but I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this dude needs a cool kick-ass role comparable to his role in Deadwood. I’m not trying to pigeonhole the guy because I see he’s got lots of talents beyond that one character, but the characters he’s been playing since Deadwood haven’t been good enough for him. B-
Horton Hears a Who—film. A bit bloated, but it followed the book pretty well. Above-average voice acting (although I still wish some of these big releases would let veteran voice actors do more work). B-
King Corn—TV. I‘m not sure how it all started, but two friends find out that the carbon in their hair is almost ¾ parts corn-based. How did that happen? They decide to rent an acre of corn field in Iowa, so they can track the journey of corn from beginning to end. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was interesting. It’s amazing to think that nearly everything we eat and drink has corn in it (mostly in the form of fructose corn syrup used as a sweetener). And one farmer had the line that summed up nearly all the corn production in America (paraphrased here): “Every year we grow more corn than ever before, and every year we grow less edible corn than ever before.” Most those cornfields you see in person or on TV are actually designed for use as an additive in food or meal for livestock (which has greatly shortened the lifespan of said livestock). When you want your mind opened a little, take 90 minutes and watch this movie. I can’t say it changed my life at all, but it sure is good fodder for conversation. B-
The Kite Runner— I’m not sure what to make of this movie. It was good, but it left me a little flat. It started out well, focusing on two boys (great acting, BTW) who were “from different worlds”; one was the son of a wealthy man, the other was the son of that man’s servant. The servant boy was extremely loyal, but when he got into trouble, the wealthy son didn’t help his friend. They got separated, and, years later, the wealthy son had the opportunity to atone for his sin, and the second half of the movie follows his journey. I should have been more moved by the story, but the second half was so rushed, I never felt that the wealthy son had sacrificed enough to make up for abandoning his friend. B-
Phone Booth— A short, tense thriller that was unique and interesting to me, but the ending left me a bit flat. Good performances by the actors, and the directing kept things frenetic, though. B-
Sweeney Todd-- I don’t “get” musicals. I also had a tough time understanding this one (thank God for DVD subtitles). It looked beautiful, as can be expected from Tim Burton, and the acting of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and the others was very well done. The story just left me a bit flat. B-
Atonement— An interesting “experiment”. Take the conventions of a love story set in the early 20th Century, and then tweak it a little. It shone a light on the follies of youth as well as the differences between classes. The end was depressing, but it showed the power of fiction. Can one change the story if one takes it into her own hands? B
Beowulf— The oldest story in the Western World is updated for modern audiences—and it’s done pretty well. I haven’t read the original (or any translations), so I don’t know how faithful it is to the source material, but as an action movie, it was pretty sound. It hit a number of beats of a typical action film, and the motion capture animation was one of the better products I’ve seen. B
Interview-- A very interesting film about celebrity that was adapted from a foreign film (this time directed by Steve Buscemi). Buscemi plays a former war correspondent who is assigned to interview a young actress (Sienna Miller) best known for being in bad movies (think of what someone like Lindsey Lohan would be in five years—assuming she doesn’t grow up). They get along like oil and water, but something happens that brings them back together, and they start peeling back the layers of who they are underneath the exteriors they’ve built for themselves. The acting and the story were very powerful. What doesn’t give this a better grade is toward the end of the movie, the “peeling back” is partly true and partly false, and it was difficult to determine what was and what wasn’t real. It didn’t kill the movie for me, but I think it hurt its effectiveness because it was otherwise a very powerful look at public perception. B
Kung Fu Panda—film. I have issues with animated movies that rely heavily on the talents of actors usually seen on screen (as opposed to professional voice actors), but Jack Black owned this role. Sure, someone else could have been Po’s voice, but Black was Po. The same can be said for Ian McShane, whose growlly voice was perfect as the Tiger (sorry, can’t access his character name right now). The animation was beautiful, and the story was typical (“everyone has a hero inside him”), yet varied enough to keep things interesting. B
30 Days of Night-- I’m not a horror movie fan, but I am a comic fan, so I had to check this out. Scary. It took the abstract art of the comic and made a pretty good film. I even understood the (stripped-down) story of the film better than I did the comic. It’s a great concept (vampires invade an Alaskan town that experiences 30 straight days of no sun due to its location), and it’s amazing no one else thought of it until the comic came out a few years ago. Check out the DVD extras; they’re pretty cool. B+
Appleseed Ex Machina— I’m not an anime fan, and I don’t know any of the backstory of these characters, but I was absolutely amazed with the visuals of this movie. It was one of the most beautifully colored and rendered movies I’ve ever seen. And since John Woo played a part in its creation, you can also be assured the action scenes were top-notch. I recommend watching this on a big screen TV with Surround Sound and just let yourself be blown away by it. B+
August Rush-- A movie that should have bored me, but it took a different approach to tell a well-worn story about a boy looking for his parents. The acting was great by Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, John Rhys Meyers, and Robin Williams (who played a very unsettling, charismatic, scumbag). There were scarier moments (probably because I was expecting something “really bad” to happen due to previous stories I’ve encountered), but it ended up being pretty tame; tame enough for most grade school kids to watch. It also had a great “magic” about it that revolved around music. I had seen it all before, but it’s done really well here. B+
The Contender— I didn’t know what to expect from this film, so it was a nice surprise to have it end up to be a political thriller. And even though there were “big surprises” at the end that were a bit larger than life, Jeff Bridges’ president gave a kick-ass speech at the end that could never have happened in the real world—but was sure fun to watch in a movie. The performances were great, and the plot seemed very true to life. B+
Gone Baby Gone— Another film that would be great to show in a group because it raises very good questions about “right” and “wrong” and what makes a heroic act (something good on the surface or something that may only look good after years). This is Ben Affleck’s first turn as a director, and he did an fantastic job coaxing excellent performances from his actors (most notably, his brother Casey, who was amazing) and also brought the movie a very real, gritty Boston (his hometown). I should know a movie like this will have twists and turns, but I was surprised by them. The movie drew me in from the first minute and I was along for the ride. B+
No Country for Old Men-- A dark chase movie. Great acting all around, and the directing was fantastic. The end was a bit nebulous for me, but then again, I can’t expect everything to be tied up in a bow for our entertainment. B+
There Will Be Blood-- A great acted/directed movie that could have used a bit more storytelling. There was more than once where I thought “Now how did they get here?” Also, the very bad blood between Plainview and the Reverend seemed to come from almost nowhere. They never got along, but there was serious hatred in the back half of the movie that didn’t seem justified from what we saw previously. But, as I said, it’s extremely well done, and Daniel Day Lewis was unbelievable in it. And the “I drink your milkshake” scene… wow. B+
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