brokeback mountain

even if you haven’t loved ang lee’s movies, you have to respect him for the quality and variety of films that he’s been able to make. his movies always have great direction, great acting, and are generally quality productions. brokeback mountain will probably drive him to multiple awards but i was expecting a bit more. you would think a film about semi-gay cowboys would a shoo-in for emotional impact, but i thought there wasn’t enough in the film to make you see exactly why these two men loved each other. despite that fact, the movie captures your attention all the way through.

the family stone

as far as i’m concerned, this was the best movie i’d seen in about a month. who knew? the family stone was in contention for well on its way to "great xmas movie" until some slight hiccups near the end. but no feel-good holiday movie can make it without an ending that ties up neatly -- so it’s hardly a sin. filled with witty dialogue and hilarious moments, the family stone turned out to be an unexpected gem.

oh, some unsuspecting members of the audience felt ambushed by the not quite uplifting ending, so criers and people with real human feelings and emotions beware.

king kong

peter jackon, overrated? i believe so. i didn’t like rings and i don’t like kong. jackson may be a wizard at organizing huge extravaganza movies, but his films contain so many over the top cheesy moments that i couldn’t help but almost gag. maybe he was trying to mimic the style of the older films, but this new version is only acceptable as a brainless adventure that forces you to disconnect from reality to enjoy it. not my piece of pie. it’s probably not a good thing when the giant insects are more exciting and scary than the eponymous featured animal.

chronicles of narnia: l, w, w

sorry kids, this one's not worth it. the book is too slim to support a two hour film. compared to potter and rings (i'm no great fan of either), this one's a distant third. the pacing is just too poor and nothing happens that is jaw dropping, remotely exciting, or even "wow, that was cool." the only reason to watch this movie is if you've read, and loved, the book enough times that you have to see it. a huge disappointment. don't be fooled by the critics, this film sucks.

rent

a highly anticipated release in some circles, rent the movie sorely disappoints. i'm not sure if it's because chris columbus did such a bad job directing or if this is just one of those things that can't be translated to the big screen. the singing is fine, the sets are fine, but the whole energy of the musical is missing. if you've seen the musical, avoid this movie (the only reason that i watched this was to see the original cast). if you haven't seen the musical, feel free to watch the movie if you must, but know that this is no substitute for the real thing.

the scene with roger in new mexico is laughably bad. laughably.

kiss kiss, bang bang

the writer of the lethal weapons makes his directorial debut with an almost spoof of his patented buddy action flicks. while i found some of the "talk to the audience" narrative to be annoying, those feelings quickly got swept aside by the film's comedic moments. val kilmer is great, robert downey is fine, michelle monaghan is kind of generic, but all in all, for a movie that i'd been highly anticipating, "kiss kiss, bang bang" didn't disappoint. the best part of the movie for me though, might have been the very well done opening credits -- loved the art style.

pride & prejudice

those english sure are witty. and those accents are to die for. i've never seen the original bbs version of pride & prejudice but if it's better than this version, i can't imagine how. while some may be bothered by the patented "acting" of keira knightley, it's hard to dislike her, especially in this movie. me? i'm a keira fan and the only downside of this movie is the less than attractive mr darcy. the (un)intentional comedy in this movie is hilarious. a must see, for both men and women.

h potter and the goblet of fire

the further adventures of puberty for harry potter and his fellow co-stars. i missed the third harry potter (my favorite book of the series and supposedly the best movie) so it's hard to say if this was the best potter movie. however, it far surpassed the first two films in scope and excitement. basically at this point, you already know if like the potter flicks, nothing about this one will really sway your opinion one way or the other.

good night and, good luck

to be perfectly honest, i slept through a third of this movie, however, it was pretty good for the parts that i was awake. i'd almost pay to watch the third that i missed but that would just be crazy. the performances are stellar all around and the depiction for the real-life conflict between television newsman edward murrow and senator joseph mccarthy is highly informative. this will probably get some oscar nominations, just because it's "serious" and has "fine" acting.

a history of violence

drawn in by rave reviews and a david cronenberg film being given top billing, i had high hopes for this movie. instead, i sat through much of the movie wondering how viggo mortensen must feel knowing that he looks much better with a beard and appearing unshowered at all times -- while riding a horse or carrying a sword. i found the plot and pacing of the movie to be off-kilter and unbelievable. the premise for the movie was excellent but it just didn't work for me. i expected something deeper and more affecting.

the tao of steve

when i first watched this film, i found it to be incredibly hilarious. so good that i'd always kept it in the back of my mind as a perfect rental. well, that perfect rental day came and went. and the verdict on the tao of steve? better then than now. with a good idea and some brilliant moments, tao of steve is still worth watching, but it's no sure-fire winner all the way through. damn it. maybe the expectations were too high this time around, but something was missing on the re-watching. the moral of the story: listen to the tao of steve, don't necessarily watch it.

the philadelphia story

you don't get more old school than 1940 with cary grant, katharine hepburn, and james stewart. billed to me as "the greatest romantic comedy of all time," the philadelphia story was thoroughly enjoyable until the end, when seemingly unmotivated declarations of love was rampant. aside from that, the zinging wit of the movie was on full display and despite it taking a few minutes for me to find the rhythm of such precisely delivered lines, the movie was excellent...well, until the end.

the most stunning thing was watching katharine hepburn on-screen, since that totally justified cate blanchett's portrayal of her.

the squid and the whale

there's not much to say about the squid and the whale except that it'll probably end up being an overlooked indie film. and that would be sad as the movie is excellent all the way through. a movie about a family struggling through divorce, the squid and the whale presents everything with humor and wit, without desolving into overly sentimental schlop. while the tie-in with the title of the movie seems a bit stretched, i'll forgive them because they actually show the inside of new york's natural history museum.

shopgirl

as steve martin tries to channel bill murray, claire danes scrunches up her face and cries...a lot. and kind of does her forlorn thing. shopgirl has no redeeming values whatsoever and if i had know that adam schwartzman would end up being the unequivocal highlight of the movie, i’d had passed on the film entirely.

capote

philip seymour hoffman, one of my favorite character actors, transforms himself into the titular role. having read the book and researched the hoopla that surrounded “in cold blood,” the movie was a near can’t miss for me from an interest standpoint. even without that bias, the film itself delivers on all levels, even if some audience members may be a bit confused with the lack of background and context provided in the early parts of the movie.

i'm not a fan of praising actors who play/imitate real people, but hoffman does an amazing job with the role of capote.

wallace and gromit

there's really nothing to say about the wallace and gromit movies. they're great. this is their first feature length film (aside from the hilarious "chicken run") and it does run a little long, but the humor holds your attention all the way through. if you haven't seen any wallace and gromit films, now's the time to start.

a fire at the warehouse where all the sets and characters for wallace and gromit are stored was a huge tragedy for claymation fans everywhere.

the corpse bride

i've not seen "the nightmare before christmas," but by all accounts it's a classic. corpse bride is not. the claymation and animation is done very well, but there's nothing memorable about the plot, the characters, or really, anything. sorry tim burton, next.

mirrormask

despite a less than captivating story, mirrormask is such a unique experience that to fault it for plotting seems to be complaining that works of art aren't accompanied by enough informational text. mirrormask is the work of "sandman" creator neil gaiman and his longtime artistic collaborator dave mckean -- with help from jim henson's creature shop. mirrormask follows in the tradition of "labyrinth" and "the dark crystal" to tell a tale of escape from the mundanity of everyday life to the excitement of a fantasy one.

elizabethtown

the last time cameron crowe went semi-auto-biographical, he made the glowing "almost famous." this time around, crowe's film about his father fails to impress. elizabethtown felt like a knock-off cameron crowe movie. there are two redeeming things about this movie, and neither are named orlando bloom (pretty but not charismatic enough to handle this type of role) or kirsten dunst (nice front teeth). just disappointing all around. sigh.

a day on the force

a documentary about women's professional tackle football. what?! yeah, this film is no joke. originally created as part of the 72-hour feature project (72 hfp), "a day on the force" has been re-edited and re-cut to exciting results. it's hard to describe how amazing and perplexing this movie is. just watch it if you get the chance. see she-ra (or is that he-man?) kick ass on the gridiron.

only the brave

an asian-american production starring a who's who cast of asian-americans, "only the brave" tells the true story of a segregated japanese-american battalion who fought in world war two while their friends and family were interned. while the tale of the 442nd is powerful, the movie is a bit heavy on the sentimentality, and as a stand-alone film, it's a poor man's "saving private ryan." however, writer/star/director lane nishikawa's passion cannot be denied.

we got to see tamlyn tomita of joy luck club and karate kid two fame. along with jason scott lee (dragon, jungle book), mark dacascos (crow, iron chef, brotherhood of the wolf), and the ultimate sighting, yuji okumoto. you know, the bad guy from karate kid two.

thumbsucker

in what is possibly his finest acting job to date, keanu reeves co-stars as a spiritual orthodontist alongside an angsty thumbsucker. on one level, this movie is kind of a "d.a.r.e." for the prozac/ritalin generation. but the parts of the film that i found to be most poignant were the interactions between the thumbsucker's family. a coming of age story told with humor and humanity, thumbsucker was a pleasant surprise of a film. and all of the famous faces in the movie -- hi keanu, hi vince vaughn -- do wonderful work playing tongue in cheek versions of their usual movie personas.

dead man

advertised as "a dark, bitter commentary on modern american life cloaked in the form of a surrealist western," you can see dead man one of two ways: as a brilliant masterpiece and a marvel of independent cinema, or you can be bored to tears with the meandering psuedo-plot and semi-babble. i think much of what you think about the movie comes down to if you like jim jarmusch or not. i happen to like him, most of the time, so i enjoyed dead man. however, i did make it a point to watch the movie by myself because i didn't want to subject others to a potentially "pointless" movie. so, buyer beware i guess.

lord of war

nicolas cage in a good movie? what is this? the rock? not only is nicolas cage good in lord of war, lord of war is actually good. there's a bit too much moralizing in this movie, but the writing, dialogue and "fun" facts about guns is worth the price of admission alone. highly recommended if you go in with little to no expectations.

since when did jared leto get second billing in a movie?

the forty year old virgin

judd apatow, creator/writer of “freaks and geeks,” makes his movie directing debut. and what a debut it is, filled with r-rated scenes and conversations galore. while this movie certainly isn’t for grandma and grandpa, it’s entertaining enough to keep your eyeballs directed forwards. well, until the end, which is better left unrevealed. i can see how easy this movie was to sell, “well, we have this loser guy right? he’s forty, and he’s still a virgin…sold!” successfully pulling it off must have been significantly harder however, because you can only ride a one-trick pony so far; luckily, seth rogen is along for the ride.

red eye

wes craven, rachel mcadams, cillian murphy, and brian cox? sounds like a winner. reviews touted this movie as a brisk tight thriller. it was more of a snore fest actually. nothing stood out, nothing jumped out, nothing was scary in the least. highly disappointing. mcadams and murphy make the camera happy but weren't they supposed to make the audience scared? oh well. yawn.

grizzly man

want to see what kind of crazy it takes to bring a man to summer with grizzly bears? introducing timothy treadwell. a documentary featuring timothy’s own footage (taken in the last three years of a thirteen year “career”), grizzly man is less about bears than it is about the nature of man. assuming man was peroxide blonde, vain and completely delusional, like timothy is. still, you have to give grudging respect to timothy because he does care about the bears, even if his methods of protection are a bit unorthodox to say the least. plus, he got mauled by his babies, so really, some sympathy please.

in the mood for love

wong kar wai makes beautiful movies, and this is perhaps his most famous movie stateside. with the recent release of the semi-sequel “2046,” i had to see “in the mood for love.” and it was everything i expected: slow, moving and beautiful down to every last detail. i think “mood” here is the operative word. if you’re not in the right mood for a movie like this, i can see sleep winning out over attention, but if you’re in the right mood, the movie is pretty amazing.

dark days

the tunnel people of new york have shanty homes to live in -- complete with tvs, electricity and all sorts of "junk" that were thrown away by the people upstairs. this zero budget production documents the lives of a small band of homeless who live in the amtrack tunnels underneath penn station. make sure you watch the deleted scenes and the making of featurette to get the full behind-the-scenes story. everything about this film is really amazing, even if you'll be looking for subtitles for the first ten minutes.

broken flowers

talk about disappointing. i like jim jarmusch, i like the droll bill murray. i liked the idea of jarmusch and murray teaming up for a relatively accessible movie. and broken flowers certainly seemed accessible from the plot synopsis, but in reality, it's accessible only because there's nothing there. nothing to grasp onto, no characters, no plot, no catharsis, nothing. that may miss the point of jarmusch movies, but i'd rather not see his take on the romantic comedy -- one without any romance, comedy, or anything else worth watching.

sky high

i have a weakness for superhero movies. my proudest possession is the new x-men poster on my wall -- framed no less. so when a movie about a high school for superheroes-in-training arrived, i had to see it. and for me, it was a glorious experience. great casting, great use of superhero powers, fun riffing on the "superhero vs sidekick" dynamic, spectacular as far as the child in me was concerned. however, if you're not into superheroes and/or under the age of fifteen, i'd maybe pass on sky high. your loss though.

pushing tin

pushing your patience is more like it. i can't say that this movie's outright bad but at the end of the day you're left wondering, "wow, did i just totally waste my time?" i fell asleep for half an hour and didn't miss a beat. the only really good thing here is cate blanchett's acting, and the incendiary prescence of angelina jolie -- even if her nipple was gratuitously exposed. i don't think seeing angelina's nipple has ever been so underwhelming.

this is the movie where billy bob and angelina met, so i guess it's got some historical significance, if nothing else.

cold mountain

if someone had told me that the screenplay for cold mountain was adapted by anthony minghella (english patient), i would have skipped the movie. sadly, nobody did. so i suffered through a confusing opening, an intriguing middle, and then a terrible last act that just defies all rationality. if ever someone shouldn't have died at the end of a movie, it was jude law in cold mountain. and i normally love it when the hero dies.

on the other hand, it was fun to see which b-plus actor showed up around each corner. i had no clue this movie contained so many familiar faces. there were a good half-dozen "hey, it's [insert full name]!" moments.

italian for beginners

those danes sure know how to make low-budget movies. handheld cameras, no special effects, natural lighting, sound recorded on location. i wasn't sure if we were watching home movies or an actual professional film. turns out the low production values weren't due to a lack of budget, but from adherence to a set of rules that were designed to "remove the bells and whistles from filmmaking.” this dogma/dogme movement was started to re-direct attention to the story and the characters. really interesting concept. "italian for beginners" is a much better "love, actually," but there are apparently better examples of dogme films out there. so, to denmark we will go.

before sunset

when before sunrise first came out, i loved it. for one, it was a feature length film about two people talking, and that was it. second, the conversations established a connection between two people that reflected the sort of moment you or i might have. and i'd never thought that kind of moment could be encapsulated or depicted. and while before sunrise was plenty good enough on its own, before sunset serves as the perfect eighty minute epilogue to the always nagging life questions: "so, what happened?" and "what if?"

i like to imagine that jesse from before sunrise/sunset is the alternate reality version of ethan hawke's troy dyer from "reality bites." i think i want to be ethan hawke, what of it?

hustle & flow

remember that timeless fairy tale about the pimp who turns into a crunk rapper? well, here it is on the big screen. i confess, i really wanted to see hustle & flow. now that i've seen it? could've skipped it. while the movie was certainly gritty and well acted, it couldn't quite stop itself from devolving into typical clichéd madness and ends up groveling for the audience's laughs and appreciation. the real highlight of the film doesn't come from watching "d-jay" pursue his dreams, it comes from watching terrence howard finally get his.

fantastic four

known intergalactically as "earth's first family of super heroes," the fantastic four isn't marvel's most popular or well known team, but they have been around the longest. as an avid comic book fan, i've never had more than a passing interest in f4; they were more influential than exciting. and really, that's how this movie stacks up. f4 should be the baseline by which comic book movies are judged. it's not terrible, it's not great, but it's more than capable of saving the day.

the cringeworthy casting of jessica alba as sue storm turned out to be fine. i guess libido will win out over fanboy, every time.

wedding crashers

someday, vince vaughn might be successful playing a character other than himself. but until that day comes, he'll stick to being the quick talking funny man. which is fine by me since his wedding crashers team-up with owen wilson and christopher walken is the most purely entertaining movie of the summer. "a light-hearted hilarious romp" if you will.

and similar to how brittany murphy overtook alicia silverstone in both career and hotness post-clueless, rachel mcadams will triumph over lindsay lohan after co-starring as lohan's second fiddle in mean girls. if she hasn't done so already.

charlie & the chocolate factory

you remember the original chocolate factory movie don't you? craziness, psychedelia, oompas loompas? re-mixing johnny depp and tim burton with the original should only sweeten the concoction right? sadly, no. this version about our favorite chocolatier starts off promisingly enough, but an hour into it, you start to suspect that the movie -- like japanese gum -- has quickly lost its flavor. i liked the geisel-ian "i hate kids" willy wonka but all the backstory on him was tedious and wholly unnecessary. we know willy is weird, who cares why? show me the wizardry, enough about the wizard.

the island

you know what to expect from michael bay by now: summer trash. michael bay movies are consistently high in production value but not necessarily engaging. still, his big hits (bad boys, the rock, armageddon?) outnumber his big duds (pearl harbor). the island never strays far from bay's tried and true formula of explosions, chases, and never ending ammo. the premise for the island is actually kind of interesting, but the movie never moves beyond time killing entertainment.

on the other hand, scarlett johansson looks ravishing as usual. even though i can't really stand seeing her in "normal" roles, since i prefer her quieter, quirkier work. watching her scream "RUN!" over and over again just doesn't do it for me.

american psycho

christian bale must maintain his playboy image by day so that he can kick butt under the cover of night. sound familiar? whereas "batman begins" attempts to shed light on bruce wayne's motivations, "american psycho" doesn't bother to give any motivations to its anti-hero, patrick bateman. bateman is just a killing machine with an ever growing appetite for "murders and executions," which isn't necessarily a bad thing. sometimes critically hailed as a dark satire on the eighties, i thought the film was a slasher flick -- without the benefit of on-screen slashings -- masquerading as a poor man's fight club. the movie left me as emotionless as its main character.

glengarry glen ross

based on a pulitzer prize winning play by david mamet, this classic about real estate salesmen stars pacino, lemmon, spacey, (ed) harris and (alec) baldwin. similar to “12 angry men,” the film is still essentially a play, with only a few location changes to spice things up and nothing to concentrate on except for the fiery dialogue. which isn't a bad thing since all the actors involved do outstanding jobs with their diatribes. however, some movie watchers might get bored with the lack of a plot or the "excessive" dialogue. neanderthals.

march of the penguins

penguins are people too! watch them eat, watch them swim, watch them shuffle around. watch them love and care for one other. if you’ve never seen the struggle that goes into making gushingly cute baby penguins, this movie will delight and enlighten. then again, with the languishing shots of snowstorms, southern lights and penguins huddling, this movie could bore you right to death. alright, i get it, penguins have to walk seventy miles – uphill both ways -- enough already.

i also don’t want my animals anthropomorphized, i want to know what compels an animal to shuffle seventy miles, not be shown every agonizing step.

almost famous

for 122 minutes in 2000, kate hudson was a sure-fire star. she was incandescent, she was a supernova, she was penny lane. sure, in the ensuing five years she's only managed to lose a guy in ten days and not much else but she's still goldie hawn's daughter -- and married to a rock star. so really, "almost famous" was both her breakout movie and an apt description for her subsequent career. the relevant point here is that cameron crowe (say anything, singles, jerry maguire) uses a semi-autobiographical story, patented cameroncrowe-isms, and the luminosity of kate hudson to craft yet another modern day masterpiece.

war of the worlds

(guest reviewed) inconsistencies abound in this summer blockbuster. suspenseful (knee-jerk style) but cratered with "plotholes" that can be crossed if you're (1) generous with leaps of faith, (2) awestruck by dakota fanning's talent while not put off by her teeth, or (3) a fan of tom cruise's signature "i'm burying my head in my hands to mask that i only have two facial expressions." movie-hop in for the first half hour of special effects and leave once buildings stop splitting in two. the movie has its moments but if you're looking for a coherent alien invasion movie, rent independence day instead. id4 comparatively looks like an oscar contender.

minority report

in re-watching this movie, my initial evaluation was turned on its head. originally, i had previously glossed over the film as only above average summer fare. i've decided that i was wrong. the movie is not only entertaining but also scary, intelligent, surprising, and wonderfully constructed. plus it co-stars tom cruise's forehead vein, which has never been displayed so prominently or vividly. i've elevated minority report to my "best of the best summer blockbusters" list. the combination of philip k dick, spielberg and cruise won me over.

the role of agatha (played by samantha morton), the female precog, was originally offered to cate blanchett and jenna elfman. jenna elfman turns down movies? really?

banlieue 13

see jackie (chan) run, see jackie jump, see jackie kick ass. in this case, the jackies are a pair of french daredevils/stuntmen named david belle and cyril raffaelli. if you saw the old nike presto commercial featuring a guy jumping off of rooftops and shimmying spiderman-like up walls, you already know david belle. he's the founder of an urban sport called "parkour." as for the movie, it's all acrobatic action scenes interspersed with a ridiculous, yet slightly gripping, plot. overall, not a bad way to spend an hour and ten minutes of your life.

clone wars: vol 1

bridging the gap between star wars episodes two and three, clone wars is a series of three minute episodes detailing all the cool parts that the movies left out. like you know, the action. while there's hardly enough dialogue to figure out what's going on, you don't really miss out on anything because the fast and furious pace of the cartoons pushes you along to all of the fighting scenes. it's no surprise that george lucas was only nominally involved in this project, because the clone wars are superior to the prequels in every way.

sixteen candles

having missed out on every 80's classic, i'm on a mission to watch them all. my question after having seen heathers, pretty in pink and now sixteen candles is: why does it seem like 80's teen movies had better dialogue than today's teen movies? did teens get dumber? or are our teen movies just inferior? it's not like sixteen candles had a great plot or great acting, but the dialogue was better. and the characters are more likable, well-rounded, memorable, and easier to relate to. watching sixteen candles made me sad and melancholy. is that supposed to happen?

can't hardly wait for the sequel to sixteen candles. not.

mr and mrs smith

doug liman (swingers, go) drops another excellent movie. even though much of the success of this movie is due to the beautiful brad and angelina pairing, some of the acclaim must fall on the director right? whatever. angelina is beyond hot. brad is um, hot. the movie itself is good enough to be enjoyable and never terrible enough to become distracting. mr and mrs smith will probably be the best mindless fun of the summer.

i kind of wanted the smiths to die at the end of the movie. is that wrong? to wish death upon such fine genetic stock?