hoodwinked

a nowever near as clever "usual suspects" for the underage crowd -- it was billed to me as a "roshomon-esque" tale. i was a little worried beforehand because the theatre was filling up with parents and kids, but the movie turned out to be quite alright; barring some weird moments. i mean, any time you have a granny who's an undercover extreme sports enthusiast, you have to worry a bit. the saving grace of this movie was definitely the squirrel, which is probably worth the price of admission all by himself.

the cgi in this movie is truly horrendous. you really have to appreciate the work that pixar does after watching hoodwinked. if this had better cgi, it would have been a contender. instead it's merely amusing.

munich

you know what's wrong with almost all of the so-called "oscar contenders" this year? there's no emotional impact from any of these movies. we're watching movies that are supposed to be impactful but the directors never let us in. two hours of watching eric bana and his band of misfits take vengeance would have been plenty -- stretch it to three and you're left wondering "when's this gonna end?" this movie wasn't exactly what i thought it would be, lacking both action and emotional impact. it seemed like it was a can't-miss but instead turned out into a "way too long."

black hawk down

a testosterone fueled bullet fest of a movie. you really have to read the book first to fully enjoy the experience i think. then you know who characters are, what's happening on-screen, what parts they left out, the entire backstory, the military training. i've read the book twice and seen the movie twice. entirely different experiences and very complementary. and what a cast: josh hartnett, ewan mcgregor, tom sizemore, william fichtner, eric bana, ron eldard, and the pre-rings orlando bloom. not a movie for everyone but certainly great for some.

the producers

understanding that films rarely do musical versions justice, i still saw this movie. the one thing that stood out was how old nathan lane and even matthew broderick looked. the film itself dragged and was extremely hammy overall. it was just barely entertaining throughout. there really aren't any memorable songs, segments, or scenes. i’d rather have seen a full on production of "springtime for hitler.”

now i understand why. this was one of mel brook's earlier works, before he really hit his comedic stride. no wonder.

rumor has it

a one trick movie with a one trick actress headlining it. jennifer aniston still hasn't found a way to escape from her rachel character. maybe i should have watched "derailed" to see the other side of rachel. i can't really take mark ruffalo seriously as an object of affection. he's like that perfectly "ok" guy all across the board. he's ok nice, he's ok looking, he's ok funny, he's not spectacular in any way. he looks and sounds sad all the time. no wonder jennifer aniston was seduced away by kevin costner in the movie. this will be a perfect in flight movie.

rob reiner has really fallen off hasn't he? from stand by me, princess bride, when harry met sally, misery, a few good men, and the american president to just a boatload of crap recently.