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.