Depth of Processing: Movies: Older Movies: 2003-2007

Greg's Reviews 2003-2007

Title	There Will Be Blood Photos
Plot	A small time oil driller, Daniel Planview/Daniel Day-Lewis develops fields in Northern California in 1895-1920. He and his son get leases from farmers and drill for oil. There are dramatic scenes of workers wrestling with the equipment and getting hurt. His son goes deaf and becomes bitter and alienated. Daniel meets a preacher, Eli Sunday/Paul Dano, who leads a local fundementalist Bible church and who trys to extort money from Daniel as well as turn the townspeople against him. There is a rivalry that plays out between the two men as they age. Daniel Plainview becomes insane as he ages, and begins to kill people directly --whereas he only killed people in industrial accidents when he was young.
Review	There are four great things about this movie. There is excellent visiual story telling from our fine director, Paul Thomas Anderson. In the opening sequence there is a lengthy oil propecting and drilling scene with no dialog that is dramatic and satisfying. The music is innovative and very appropriate even though it is orchestrial. I liked that a lot. I liked watching Daniel Day Lewis act. It was just fun to watch the different emotions animate his face. Finally the gritty story of oil drilling and the interactions with the poor mountain farmers was different from all the other movies. The movie was not really about muck-racking the poor plight of farmers and oil workers as the base novel, Upton Sinclair's Oil was. This movie was a portrait of a life wasted in pursuit of money bringing money, but not happiness. The movie was very good, but not the funnest movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano; directed by Paul Thomas Anderson; based on the novel by Upton Sinclair
More	This movie is really a lot like Citizen Kane.
Rating	4.0

Title	Atonement Photos
Plot	The film follows the life of Briony Tallis from a 13 year old girl with a crush on an older neighbor boy through WWII, and briefly into old age. Briony accuses the neighbor boy, Robbie Turner (James McAcoy) of rape after he seduces his sister (Keira Knightley), and as she ages she regrets this, and trys to atone for it. The neighbor boy, Robby, goes off to War and the film follows his pearlous life and longing for the sister, Cecilia.
Review	This substantive movie is anchored by the strong character and fine performance of Saoirse Ronan as the young Briony. (Romola Garai as the young adult Briony is more wooden.) The tale of the younger girl sets up the drama of the whole film. The movie has many fine visual images as well. The plot is clearly drawn and the movie marchs through to its surprise ending, and its multiple levels of reality. In the end, we see what happened to Robby and Cecilia, and we contemplate that our actions have consequences, and that sometimes we can't get atonement for our sins, at least in this life.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Saoirse Ronan, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai; Directed by Joe Wright; based on the novel by Ian McEwan
More	A cinematic movie, something conventional, with a love story and a war story, and still an avante garde twist at the end. A fine flick, but not the funnest movie of the year.
Rating	3.5 1/2

Title	Beowulf IMAX 3D Photos
Plot	[MAJOR SPOILERS] Beowulf comes to kill demon troll that is killing citizens of a kingdom. After he kills the troll, he is seduced by the troll's demon mother, who then makes him King. In the end of the movie, he fights his half-demon son in the form a dragon, and everyone dies.
Review	Beowulf is a classic English epic, and this movie adaptation has an epic feel. The motion capture technology was too evident in the woodeness of the actor's faces -- just as in Polar Express. Some of the scenes were memorable, especially the Beowulf's love scene and the final battle scene. The movie is uneven, but catches us up in the end. The Imax 3D was lots of fun. I think in regular vision, the movie would have been dull.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Ray Winston, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn; Directed by Robert Zemeckis
More	Recommended only in Imax 3D. I thought that made the night worth it. Otherwise I would have rather seen Juno again.
Rating	2

Title	I Am Legend Photos
Plot	After a man made apocalypse, Will Smith's Robert Neville, is (almost) the last man on earth, and there are a masses of mindless infected humans to battle at night. He tries to find a medical cure to the bad-guy's affliction.
Review	Will Smith is the only character for most of the movie, and the bad guy's can't speak. He carries the movie off well with some fine acting and camera work. The movie is never boring, and we can follow the medical twists of the story pretty well. We don't find too many scientists working in the movies. The movie does have a shallow message about the importance of family and taking responsibility for ones actions. There is even a bit a about divine providence, but none of this is serious -mostly this is a monster movie done for fun. It is fun, and I enjoyed it.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Will Smith; Directed by Francis Lawence; Based on novel by Richard Matheson.
More	Great scenes of the empty New York city. I loved the death scene for the dog.
Rating	3.0

Title	Juno Photos
Plot	A sixteen year old gets pregnant and then finds a couple to adopt the kid. Mostly it is about the sharp dialog of the Juno (Ellen Page) with her parents, friends, boyfriend and the adoptive parents. There is a sub-plot about Juno flirting with the adoptive Dad.
Review	This scene play is sharp and witty. The acting is on-target. I enjoyed the movie, and it was always interesting even though the plot is simple. The movie had a lot of attitude. The movie was about growing up in America and about the difficulties of suburban life. I liked it. I understand it may have been trying too hard to be cool/hip, but it worked for me.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Baterman; directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody aka Brook Busey-Hunt)
More	The dialog is great, even if the slang is aggressively hip. I want to see it again.
Rating	4.0, even though it does not quite deserve full marks. I like it more in hindsight.

Title	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* Photos
Plot	A barber returns to London after 15 years to get revenge on the Judge who killed his wife and adopted his daughter. He kills lots of people with the assistance of a pie shop matron. This movie is loosely based on an English folk tale.
Review	Watching this movie is an adventure ride. It is at once so absurd, and so creepy and so witty, so loathsome, and constantly filled with iconic images. It is hard to compare it to other movies. Most of this movie is really fun. I loved it, but the end is so black-hole dark that I hope that my soul isn't darkened itself by seeing so much killing and cannibalism. All of this slaughter is a cracked mirror held up to the world to comment satirically through the Gothic metaphor. These powerful images break through the clutter. Having said all that; the musical movie acting and musical performances were solid, but not outstanding. I loved the trip to beach.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sasha Baron Cohen; Directed by Tim Burton; Written and based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim
More	I would hate to have missed this movie. Years will go by before these is anything like this. I want to buy the DVD.
Rating	3.5+ (down from four because it is a bit gimmicky) 1/2

Title	Charlie Wilson's War Photos
Plot	In the movie, and potentially in real life, Charlie Wilson was a congressman from Texas who helped fund the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan fight the Soviet Union. The movie intercuts the boring policy parts with sex scenes to keep the audience interested.
Review	In this movie, the dramatic action from Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is in the service of a morality play on Middle East politics. The writing and performances elevate this movie from similar efforts like Fahrenheit 911 or Team America World Police. I enjoyed watching Tom Hanks playing this flawed Congressman. The plot moves along, and I was interested in the politics. I wanted to understand the Julie Robert's character better -- why was this woman so interested in Soviet Afghanistan.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts; directed my Mike Nichols; written by Aaron Sorkin based on the book by George Crile.
More	The gratuitous nudity was just too obviously there to keep the ADHD audience from drifting away.
Rating	3 < < <

Title	Thumbsucker (2005) Photos
Plot	This is a high school coming-of-age story about a young man who sucks his thumb, joins the debate club, gets his heart broken by a girl, and then gets into a big University. There is a backdrop of family squabbles and an odd orthodontist.
Review	This is a substantive movie that is clearly carved out of a book. The plot is episodic and does not hang together as it might in a better film. The boy, Justin (Lou Taylor ) acts well, and Keanu Reeves' orthodontist could be the basis of a sequel because he is so interesting. I also liked the Mom, Tilda Swinton. This was an imperfect movie, but it was substantive because of the interesting characters.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn; written and directed by Mike Mills, based on the novel by Walter Kim (who had a cameo)
More	Kept my interest even though I was sleepy when I watched it.
Rating	2.0 < <

Title	Ocean's Thirteen Photos
Plot	To get revenge for a friend, the Ocean's gang trys to bankrupt and burglerize a casino.
Review	The best part about this movie is the dialog between the boys in the gang especially George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Al Pacino is also a top villian. The plot is very complicated, but that is part of this franchise's expectations. With so many characters and so much plot, Soderberg must have thought character evolution was to much.
Cast and Crew	Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliot Gould, Al Pacino
More	Fun. Shallow.
Rating	2 < <

Title	No Country for Old Men Photos
Plot	A man, Llewelyn (Josh Brolin), traveling in the country comes across a money and corpses from a bad drug deal. He takes the money, and Chigurh (Javier Bardem), an archetypical bad guy, comes to get the money back. He kills everyone that he meets as he chases Llewelyn across Texas and into Mexico. The Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) watches all this happens and quips knowingly at the murder scenes. This is a tragedy -- lots of nice people die.
Review	This film is highly stylized and takes its time to build atmosphere. The country-side somehow enables the rage, passion, and long-suffering the characters have. Llewelyn and his wife Carla Jean ( Kelly MacDonald) are normal, poor people, who are a little greedy. The acting is minimalist, but effective in the slow-paced tone of the movie. The art-direction is striking. There are many iconic images throughout the story. I never read the book, so the departures from the ending don't matter to me. The end comes abruptly as a major character talks about meeting his father in the next life. The movie somehow is about our own personal death. The end of the movie is stangely abrupt, and that was intended to leave us thinking. I was depressed after watching this, and went to bed immediately.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Josh Brolin, Javier Bardern, Tommy Lee Jones
More	Good film making. Solid story. Moderately thoughtful. As depressing as death.
Rating	3.5 < < < 1/2 <

Title	The Lives of Others [Leben der Anderen] Photos
Plot	In Communist East Germany, a secret police officer spies on a writer and becomes obsessed with him. The writer becomes subversive, and the officer becomes involved with the writer.
Review	I did not like the movie. I enjoyed quizzing myself on the German dialogue, and that was more entertaining than this slow, slow, slow movie. I don't think it had a social meaning because it was really about a sick obsession, which is not political, and there was no mental illness commentary in this movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck; Written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
More	I saw it on cable. It might have been more fun at the theater.
Rating	1.5< 1/2<

Title	American Gangster Photos
Plot	.A black New Yorker, Frank Lucas, imports heroin form Thailand directly and becomes a major drug lord. An honest cop finds, stalks and convicts him.
Review	The movie is great because of the richness of the characters and the richness of their interaction - both on the police side and on the drug dealer side. I liked how Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe's characters were principled, and how their principles help them be successful. This gives the move some universality. I liked the interplay of gritness and innocent, family life.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe; directed by Ridley Scott
More	This is a top notch boy-movie. The characters are all men, and the women are underdeveloped and often undressed. My wife hated this movie.
Rating	3.5 but almost 4 < < <1/2 <

Title	Into the Wild Photos
Plot	A young man travels aimlessly across America, and goes to Alaska where he starves. His adventures are the road after his college graduation include farmwork in North Dakota, Colorado River rafting, a hippy colony, and a retired man in the desert. There are lengthy scenes of solitude in Alaska.
Review	This is a bleak, depressing movie and because it is about a disfunctional mentally-ill man dying alone of poison, starvation and cold. The flashback scenes of his road trip are uneven with some strong scenes and some dull ones. In the end, the man (in real life as well as in the movie) writes in his diary that happiness is impossible without people to share it with. This negates the premise of the movie and the endless romantic panoramas of natural solitude. If happiness is people then why both to make a movie about this hermit in Alaska? This movie is not fun. It is thoughtful, but it is not in a uplifting way. I recommend everyone pass this movie by, except for potential hermits.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Emile Hirsch, directed by Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer
More	Was his death really a suicide? Did he go to Alaska to die?
Rating	1.5 <

Title	The Darjeeling Limited Photos
Plot	The story involves three brothers who seek their Mom, renewed togetherness, and spiritual enlightenment on a train ride through India. The movie is more episodic than linear. It involves opening get-to-know you scenes, a redemption sequence where they save some kids, and the final encounter with Mom. There is a second movie segment which is probably the end of the movie, but shown at the beginning.
Review	This movie is refreshingly strange. The characters are likeable, and many of the scenes are memorable. I think the movie is pushing an Ayn Rand/Nathaniel Brandon-like selfish individualism where people do things out of their own self interest. They stop and ask themselves if they all can agree to some kind of short-term verbal contract, but not to a classical notion of brotherly or maternal love. In this movie, people develop relationships without Judeo-Christian or even Greek ideas of love, but rather have clinical, self-interested relationships. So the movie is about ideas, and it is fun. The actors have good performances. All good things, but I still think it misses greatness by being so distant, and because, at least for me, this is too intellectual and insincere.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman; written and directed by Wes Anderson.
More	At first this movie looks existentialist, but it is more insidious -- it actually is pushing a coldly intellectual brand of selfishness. A kind of selfishness that has no room for sentimentality. Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Brandon's ethics simply justified poor treatment of their families and associates -- a mental ediface built on the sandy soil of hedonism. This movie isn't really cooly sophisticated.. It is inhumanly cold.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Gone Baby Gone Photos
Plot	Two young private investigators help the Boston police investigate the abduction of two children. They become involved with the families, suspects, and the police. There is a twist in the plot, and a moral dilemma develops between the law and the welfare of the people involved.
Review	Gone Baby Gone looks like a detective movie involving likeable detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) with grizzled veteran cops Jack Doyle and Nick Poole (Morgan Freeman and John Ashton). The movie feels like it ends with the sad death of an abducted child about 50 minutes in, and then the movie gets a second life concerning another child and a dark secret that the police are hiding. The photography is gritty, and the extras are freakishly realistic. The movie skillfully sets up a moral dilemma between the rule based morality of the law and a best-welfare, situational morality. Patrick Kenzie makes a decision, rather than evading it, and movie goers walk away debating its correctness. All of the performances in the movie are good especially Casey Affleck, John Ashton and Morgan Freeman.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman and John Ashton, Amy Ryan; directed and screenplay by Ben Affleck based on the book by Dennis Lehane
More	A fine movie with top acting, skillful writing, and a satistying moral dimension. Top rating even though it was not the funnest movie of the year.
Rating	4.0 -

Title	Michael Clayton Photos
Plot	Michael Clayton is a fixer for a large law firm. He has personal problems with his deadbeat brother, a bankrupt business, his kid, and his gambling problem. The issues with the kid are somehow tied in with the adult topics he is dealing with. Michael's employer has a partner who goes crazy, and embarrasses a client. Eventually the client, an evil chemical company, gets even.
Review	I work in the chemical industry and I have to protest that we don't think about killing people to hide mistakes. We are so risk averse, the whole notion of this is silly. Agricultural chemicals firms are especially patient and conservative. Lead attorneys in chemical companies especially don't kill people. The movie was fun to watch. I liked several actors, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Winton and George Clooney. There were lots of digressions, but I did not mind them. The twist of the plot were a bit subtle, but I followed it. The movie seemed to be about a working class detective in a stylized detective adventure. It was well done, but has not special social or intellectual meaning.
Cast and Crew	Starring: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson; written and directed by Tony Gilroy
More	I did not understand how the boy's fantasy fiction book played into the story about Arthur. Maybe someone can explain that.
Rating	2.5 < < 1/2 <

Title	Little Children Photos
Plot	A Mom has an affair with a househusband. They both watch out for the local sex offender. The guy plays football and aspires to skateboard. He is a dreamer and not very responsible.
Review	This is an tragedy about life in America --primarily about how everyone is really a damaged child. Sarah (Kate Winslet) and her boyfriend Brad (Patrick Wilson) have as many issues as their children do, and probably less. There is a released child molester in the neighborhood, and he is the same. The movie is slow and not FUN. It is an intellectually, ambitious movie. I liked the performance by Kate Winslet. I thought Patrick Wilson was pretty wooden. In the end fate conspired to prevent the lovers from their plan. I don't know what message that is supposed to send. I think it was just Hollywood luck, perhaps it was the characters wrecking their paradises because of their inner childish flaws.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson; directed by Tony Field; written by Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, based on a book by Tom Perrotta.
More	It would have seemed better at an art house cinema. It just is not as good at home. I am not sure what to make of the castration sub-theme.
Rating	2.0 < <

Title	Eastern Promises Photos
Plot	The movie is about Russians living in London, and their organized crime gangs. A father (Semyon, Amin Mueller-Stahl) and a drunken son (Kirill, Vincent Cassel) are important smugglers and restaurant owners. They employ Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) who gradually gets involved with the gang. In the meantime, an underage Russian prostitute dies during childbirth, and she was some sort sex slave associated with the restaurant owners. A Russian nurse has compassion for the dead mother and the baby, and tries to find the father. This leads to a complicated plot with some interesting twists in the end. The movie has lots of memorable graphic images. There are unexpected killings, violent sex, and naked wrestling far more brutal than in Borat.
Review	I enjoyed the movie. It had a nice blend of action and drama with enough story to keep thread together the memorable (violent/sexual) action scenes. While Semyon's family begins to look like the Godfather's Corleones it does not really; the family is not developed, there are no love in that family. There are few likeable characters aside from Anna (Naomi Watts) and perhaps her Mom. The movie is a simple genre picture for entertainment. It does a nice job of creating the enigmatic characeter of Nikolai, but I don't think that the drama rises to the level where we get a new insight about human nature. I don't think the movie has a social message either. Because of the high level of violence and the lack of a social purpose to justify it, it is simple entertainment. Although the acting and directing are superb, the movie as a whole is merely a worthy effort.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel; directed by David Cronenberg
More	Some very memorable scenes in an entertaining movie - which has no humanitarian or intellectual heft.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	The Brave One Photos
Plot	A couple is mugged and beaten in the park. The man dies but the woman lives, and she gets revenge by killing criminals in New York City. She has a coy relationship with the cop investigating the case.
Review	This movies message is morally bankrupt so I am giving it a bad rating even though it is a good film on style and content. I liked the characters in the movie and I followed the plot even through it was complicated. Erica moves from self-defense to increasingly aggressive killing including assassination and revenge killing. The movie shows the killing, but then approves of it. At the end, she seems to continue on her murderous path. The best part of the movie was the Jodie Foster's performance. The dialog was good. The art direction was unimaginative. The pacing was fine for my taste, but the lazy pace made the movie less fun. In the end the movie gives a pro-vigalanti violence message that I did not think was helpful to building a better society. Why make an artist movie about killing Americans when there is so much other injustice in the work right now? I thought that New York was getting safer and was not out of control. If so, why advocate killing people. I don't think it is responsible to glorify solving problems by killing people. This movie would be a 3.5 star movie had the message not been so perverse - as it is, it is offensive and deserves my lowest rating.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard; directed by Neil Jorden, written by Roderick and Bruce Taylor
More	Serious movies should not advocate violence. This is not cartoon violence like Spiderman. This is a serious movie where killing is promoted as a way to solve problems. One is supposed to think that everyone can become someone else if pushed enough, and that this is some cute character study. Maybe, but stories like that don't have happy Hollywood endings. 1/2 flask.
Rating	1/2 <

Title	3:10 to Yuma Photos
Plot	A rancher witnesses a stage coach robber by a notorous outlaw, and after the robber is caught, the rancher agrees to take him to the prison train, the 3:10 to Yuma. The robber's gang trys repeatedly to free the robber, and there are lots of gun battles. The robber and the rancher talk and begin to respect each other.
Review	Why do directors alway make Westerns with so many stereotypes? Everything about this movie is tired and old; except one thing, the dialog of the robber with is annoyingly too contempory to fit in with the rest of the 19th century characters. It is not surprising that this is a remake of a 1957 movie of the same name. Russell Crowe gives us a good performance, but it is wasted in the service of this pointless, un-enjoyable movie. In the end all believablity is cast aside and the movie turns into a cartoonish battle with an ending so unanticipated it seems surreal.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster; directed by James Mangold
More	Although this movie deserves to be a 1.5 star, I am giving it one because I hated it so much. My tolerance for Westerns is pretty low - I can tolerate maybe one or two a decade.
Rating	1.0<

I want to buy the DVD when it comes out, and I am going to look into buy the novel.

Title	Stardust Photos
Plot	An imaginative fantasy plot involving witches, princes, quests and a love story. Our hero, Triston, needs to bring a star-girl as a prisoner back to his girlfriend to win her hand in marriage. It turns the star-girl is being sought by lots of people. Triston meets a flying pirate and many witches.
Review	I thought this movie was lots of fun. I liked Clair Danes and Charlie Cox performances. There is a lot of characters, and too much fantasy for more earthly minded movie-goes. I thought the movie continuously surprised and was playful. I like the ghosts who reacted to events like a Greek chorus. I liked the whole story even the silly, happy ending. If there is a problem with this movie, it is that it is escapist fiction. Yes the movie has some anti-stereotyping, politically-correct themes, but mostly this is about a fairy-tale, love story.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer; Written and directed by Matthew Vaughn; based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
More
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Bourne Ultimatum Photos
Plot	Bourne continues his effort to get revenge on the CIA and try to figure out who he was before he as a secret agent. The plot is very much like the second movie.
Review	This movie was fast moving and had non-stop action--a big spashy adventure. The plot held together. There was little development of the characters, and none of the characters were likeable. Matt Damon does a nice job of tough-guy minimalist acting. The director, Paul Greengrass, did a nice job of telling the story with short snippets of visuals. The movie was all about action adventure and was all for fun. There was an interesting twist at the end about whether Bourne was a victim or a volunteer; this meant that it was ambigious about who was good or bad, but this was short lived, and not really that deep.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathalm, Joan Allen; Directed by Paul Greengrass; Based on the book by Robert Ludlum.
More	It was not fun enough for such a shallow movie. People should see it because it is a big slashy action-adventure, but this was not at all as good as Spiderman III or Harry Potter 5. It was unapologetically shallow.
Rating	2.5 < < and 1/2 more <

Title	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Photos
Plot	No one believes Harry and Dumbledore that Voldemort is back, and Harry is oppressed by the Ministry's Delores Umbridge, who takes over Hogwart's school. In the end, Voldemort shows himself in public.
Review	There is a lot of story in the novel, and the movie tries to deal with it, and still capture the overall mood of increasing worry. The movie is darker and there are fewer jokes. The art direction of the movie is excellent, and I enjoyed the depiction of scenes from the book; although the movie departs from the book frequently -- but that is OK. Daniel Radcliffe's performance is excellent, as are most of the young adult actors. Imelda Staunton plays Umbridge with the right mix of quirkiness and saccharine sweetness. This is not completely escapist entertainment, but many of the social satire messages of the book as drowned out in the movie; although the diverse cast sends a message of its own.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton; directed by David Yates; based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
More	A well-crafted picture, entertaining, and with some edge; on the other hand, this is not as fun-to-watch as some earlier movies.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Sicko Photos
Plot	This is a documentary about the American health case system, and it advocates a national single payer system as in Canada, England or France. It has a number of predictable sad stories, and happy anecdotes from foreign cities. It also has a trip to visit a hospital in Cuba with sick New York City firefighters.
Review	The is a plain documentary, and I would not mind watching it on TV. The big screen does nothing for it. It highlights an important issue, but it does not rise to the level of "Bowling for Colombine" or "An Inconvenient Truth." I am more sympathetic to the health care problems after seeing this, but I wish I would have seen something else instead.
Cast and Crew	Starring, written, directed and produced by Micheal Moore
More	Enlightening but not entertaining. Better than watching 60 Minutes, but not that much better.
Rating	1.5 <

Title	Live Free or Die Hard Photos
Plot	Bruce Willis plays NY detective Jack McClane who gets involved with a hack plot to take over the United States by hacking communication, transportation and financial systems. Jack hooks up with a friendly hacker and goes after the bad guys.
Review	The movie is pure escapist entertainment. It is fun to watch and has no redeeming social value or message. The action is fast paced and the plot is just strong enough to thread the action scenes together. At the end the plot gets comic-book like, but that is par for the course in this genre. I thought it was a lot of fun, and if you are looking for thoughtful plotting, you will be disappointed. I thought that Justin Long was entertaining.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long; directed by Len Wiseman
More	Good for the 4th of July weekend. Fun but no Oscars.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	A Mighty Heart Photos
Plot	A dramatic retelling of the kipnapping and death of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl from the viewpoint of his wife. It mixes the couple's personal story, with the police investigation, and news reports.
Review	This movie is told in the shaky-camera style of a documentary, and this provides a sense of uneasiness as well as unreality. The movie's tale is gripping, and the actors are engaging. The highlight is Angelina Jolies' lamination after the death of Daniel. The movie does not end with his death, and is not exceptionally depressing -- although it is pretty dark, and focuses attention on the tragedy of war generally. It also comes out against racial hatred.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi; directed by Michael Winterbottom; based on the book by Mariane Pearl
More	I wondered if a less well-recognized actress would have been better, but I don't think so. I think Angelina did a fine job. I also liked Archie Panjie, who was a necessary foil. I think Angelin a Jolie looked sufficently like the real Marianne Pearl, although I understand why it might have been better to cast an actress who was part black.
Rating	2.5 < <

Title	Mr. Brooks. Photos
Plot	Mr. Brooks is a successful familyman and businessman, who also has a secret life as a serial killer. Later it turns out that a witness to a murder wants lessons on how to be a serial killer. Mr. Brook's daughter is pregnant and may have killed the father.
Review	The movie is great because of the Kevin Costner character and his interior dialog with his alter-ego Marshall, played by William Hurt. I liked hearing his brooding about killing and repenting. The plot is unrealistic, but so what. I liked Marge Helgenberger too. There is a question about whether this movie is a serious study of troubled lives, or just a twisted genre film. I think it is just escapism.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt, and Marg Helgenberger
More	Highly recommended for fun, but no larger artistic message
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Knocked Up. Photos
Plot	A TV personality gets pregnant with a loser pot-head, but she falls in love anyway --the movie turns into a romantic comedy. The girl's sister has marriage problems, and the boy's family are all losers.
Review	The movie was enjoyable and engaging. It is a cute comedy and does not have any serious pretentions. Katherine Heigl did a great job. There was a lot of humor about slackers and sex addicts. The ending of all romantic comedies is unbelievable, and this is no different, but at least you feel good at the end. The movie is not as gross as the reviews make one think. In fact how prudish are these critics; this is pretty mainstream R rated stuff--of course there is that child birth scene. A well written movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl; Written and directed by Judd Apatow
More	Entertaining. Who knew Katherine Haigl could act?
Rating	2 < <

Title	Waitress. Photos
Plot	A waitress and cook at a pie restaurant has an unhappy marriage and then gets pregnant. She falls in love with her doctor, and tries to work things out.
Review	This is an offbeat movie that is more about the saddness and absurdity of life than it is a romantic comedy. The performances are all strong especially by Keri Russell. I liked the attitude the film brought to the movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: .Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines and Adrienne Shelly; written and directed by Adrienne Shelly
More	Highly recommended
Rating	3.5 < < <

Title	Fracture. Photos
Plot	A complex, character-driven mystery-drama. A man murders his wife because she is having an affair with a cop. The cop gets trapped in a plot which plays out during the trial.
Review	The directing, writing and art direction are top notch, as is the performance by Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. I liked the way the scenery foretold the story, and I liked how Ted Crawford has everyone out-smarted. Of course he was a murderer, but the other people in the story are not being so nice either. The movie was fun to watch, and had funny and dramatic parts. At bottom though the movie is escapist entertainment, and does not aspire to more than entertainment. I have to brag that I had the gun ploy figured out, but that was fun. Also the bit about Willy falling in love with his new boss is dumb.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathaim; directed by Gregory Hoblit, story by Daniel Pyne
More	Fun to watch. Petered out at the end. I'd like to see it again, but not something to buy. They could have picked a better title, Fracture, is that about accidents?
Rating	3+ < < <

Title	Spider-Man 3 Photos
Plot	A complex story that works on the comic book, emotional, and metaphorical levels. Peter Parker's personal troubles spill over into his superhero existance. Mary Jane's acting life takes a turn for the worse, and Peter's high school friend, Harry, (who is also the Green Goblin) becomes a friend, and then a romantic rival. In the end Spiderman fights two villians who represent his own passions, and gets unexpected help.
Review	This is a dramatically successful action-adventure movie. I thought that the time spent developing the characters was well-worth the investment, and that the action sequences were better since they were well motivated. I also liked how the action sequences paralleled the dramatic story in a metaphorical sense. While I thought that the action sequences in Spiderman 2 were better, I liked the metaphorical level better in this movie. I liked how Peter literally battled his interior demon and won. This movie was well directed from the opening credits, which were masterful, and it was well written to develop such a great parallel structure with strong characters. Top notch.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Tobey Maquire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco; written and directed by Sam Raimi.
More	Better than almost all movies in balancing meaning with fun. That is the goal of an intelligent movie. A true masterstroke for Sam Raimi! A worthy successor to the outstanding Spiderman II.
Rating	4.0 < < < <

Title	Hoax. Photos
Plot	Based on the hoax that Clifford Irving attempted with a fake authorized biography of the billionaire Howard Hughes in the 1960's. It shows the events from Irving's point of view, and in the end it all unravels. Since it is based on Irving's recollection of events, it is all suspect. Part way through the director begins to include fantasy sequences of the hoax events, which some may find confusing, but I thought it added another dimension.
Review	This was an interesting movie. The performance by Richard Gere made the movie interesting. I also liked the way the movie picked up the feeling of the period, and I liked the beginning where Irving gets sucked into the hoax. I also liked how the director had fantasy sequences later in the movie to show that Irving was tricking himself, at the same time the hoax is also being played on the audience. The subject matter of a fake book is a little dry. Although Stanley Tucci's character was interesting none of the other sub-plots were any good. I did not like the character of Dick (Alred Molina).
Cast and Crew	Starring: Richard Gere, Alfered Molina, Hope Davis
More	Interesting, but that is be best I can say for it. It was not fun to watch. A possible best actor vehicle for Richard Gere.
Rating	2.5 < < 1/2<

Title	Music and Lyrics. Photos
Plot	A washed up 80's pop singer finds a cute young lyric writer and they write some songs, flirt and fall in love.
Review	This movie is really light. It is pleasant and happy, and Drew Berrymore and Hugh Grant are fun to watch. The end of the movie is too sappy to be believed, and the whole thing is formulaic. There are some interesting twists and some laughs. This is only escapist entertainment.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Drew Berrymore, Hugh Grant; written and directed by Marc Lawence
More	Who knew that Hugh Grant could sing?
Rating	1.5 <

Title	Blades of Glory Photos
Plot	To avoid a suspension from skating, two male figure skaters team up for championship competition. The guys are jealous of each other, a simple love story, and there is a pair of rivals. I
Review	There are some funny parts, mostly the kind that make you cringe at the same time. This movie has a strange relationship with homosexuality - the movie is clearly pretty open to sex-role switching, but most of the jokes poke fun at homosexuality. A lot of physical humor and crotch jokes. Having said that a lot of the movie is funny. There is not a lot to talk about afterword.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Will Ferrell, Jon Heder; directed by Josh Gordon
More	Funny movies are hard to rate.
Rating	2 < <

Title	Bridge to Terabithia Photos
Plot	A middle school boy and girl escape their school-world problems in a fantasy world. At the end of the movie there is a tragic plot twist.
Review	The beginning of the movie is truly banal, but once they get to Terabirtha, the fantasy world, I liked the movie better. There is an interesting interplay between the school-world problems and the fantasy world enemies. The young actors perform well, but not exceptional. The movie is too heavy handed for my taste. The young actors did a fine job.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSphia Robb; directed by Gabor Csupo
More	I like the idea that the girl, Leslie, is part of the fantasy world, and that as the boy moves into the adult world she goes away. Aside from the fact that the girl is a child of the writers, there is little to support that. But it would be a better movie if that were true. I also liked that they actually build a bridge to Terabithia in the literal sense. The music teacher Zooey Deschanel, Ms Edmonds, was Trillian in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and has a number of movies coming out.
Rating	1.5-

2006 Movies

Title	The Brave One Photos
Plot	A couple is mugged and beaten in the park. The man dies but the woman lives, and she gets revenge by killing criminals in New York City. She has a coy relationship with the cop investigating the case.
Review	This movies message is morally bankrupt so I am giving it a bad rating even though it is a good film on style and content. I liked the characters in the movie and I followed the plot even through it was complicated. Erica moves from self-defense to increasingly aggressive killing including assassination and revenge killing. The movie shows the killing, but then approves of it. At the end, she seems to continue on her murderous path. The best part of the movie was the Jodie Foster's performance. The dialog was good. The art direction was unimaginative. The pacing was fine for my taste, but the lazy pace made the movie less fun. In the end the movie gives a pro-vigalanti violence message that I did not think was helpful to building a better society. Why make an artist movie about killing Americans when there is so much other injustice in the work right now? I thought that New York was getting safer and was not out of control. If so, why advocate killing people. I don't think it is responsible to glorify solving problems by killing people. This movie would be a 3.5 star movie had the message not been so perverse - as it is, it is offensive and deserves my lowest rating.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard; directed by Neil Jorden, written by Roderick and Bruce Taylor
More	Serious movies should not advocate violence. This is not cartoon violence like Spiderman. This is a serious movie where killing is promoted as a way to solve problems. One is supposed to think that everyone can become someone else if pushed enough, and that this is some cute character study. Maybe, but stories like that don't have happy Hollywood endings. 1/2 flask.
Rating	1/2 <

Title	3:10 to Yuma Photos
Plot	A rancher witnesses a stage coach robber by a notorous outlaw, and after the robber is caught, the rancher agrees to take him to the prison train, the 3:10 to Yuma. The robber's gang trys repeatedly to free the robber, and there are lots of gun battles. The robber and the rancher talk and begin to respect each other.
Review	Why do directors alway make Westerns with so many stereotypes? Everything about this movie is tired and old; except one thing, the dialog of the robber with is annoyingly too contempory to fit in with the rest of the 19th century characters. It is not surprising that this is a remake of a 1957 movie of the same name. Russell Crowe gives us a good performance, but it is wasted in the service of this pointless, un-enjoyable movie. In the end all believablity is cast aside and the movie turns into a cartoonish battle with an ending so unanticipated it seems surreal.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster; directed by James Mangold
More	Although this movie deserves to be a 1.5 star, I am giving it one because I hated it so much. My tolerance for Westerns is pretty low - I can tolerate maybe one or two a decade.
Rating	1.0<

I want to buy the DVD when it comes out, and I am going to look into buy the novel.

Title	Stardust Photos
Plot	An imaginative fantasy plot involving witches, princes, quests and a love story. Our hero, Triston, needs to bring a star-girl as a prisoner back to his girlfriend to win her hand in marriage. It turns the star-girl is being sought by lots of people. Triston meets a flying pirate and many witches.
Review	I thought this movie was lots of fun. I liked Clair Danes and Charlie Cox performances. There is a lot of characters, and too much fantasy for more earthly minded movie-goes. I thought the movie continuously surprised and was playful. I like the ghosts who reacted to events like a Greek chorus. I liked the whole story even the silly, happy ending. If there is a problem with this movie, it is that it is escapist fiction. Yes the movie has some anti-stereotyping, politcally-correct themes, but mostly this is about a fairy-tale, love story.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer; Written and directed by Matthew Vaughn; based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.
More
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Bourne Ultimatum Photos
Plot	Bourne continues his effort to get revenge on the CIA and try to figure out who he was before he as a secret agent. The plot is very much like the second movie.
Review	This movie was fast moving and had non-stop action--a big spashy adventure. The plot held together. There was little development of the characters, and none of the characters were likeable. Matt Damon does a nice job of tough-guy minimalist acting. The director, Paul Greengrass, did a nice job of telling the story with short snippets of visuals. The movie was all about action adventure and was all for fun. There was an interesting twist at the end about whether Bourne was a victim or a volunteer; this meant that it was ambigious about who was good or bad, but this was short lived, and not really that deep.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathalm, Joan Allen; Directed by Paul Greengrass; Based on the book by Robert Ludlum.
More	It was not fun enough for such a shallow movie. People should see it because it is a big slashy action-adventure, but this was not at all as good as Spiderman III or Harry Potter 5. It was unapologetically shallow.
Rating	2.5 < < and 1/2 more <

Title	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Photos
Plot	No one believes Harry and Dumbledore that Voldemort is back, and Harry is oppressed by the Ministry's Delores Umbridge, who takes over Hogwart's school. In the end, Voldemort shows himself in public.
Review	There is a lot of story in the novel, and the movie tries to deal with it, and still capture the overall mood of increasing worry. The movie is darker and there are fewer jokes. The art direction of the movie is excellent, and I enjoyed the depiction of scenes from the book; although the movie departs from the book frequently -- but that is OK. Daniel Radcliffe's performance is excellent, as are most of the young adult actors. Imelda Staunton plays Umbridge with the right mix of quirkiness and saccharine sweetness. This is not completely escapist entertainment, but many of the social satire messages of the book as drowned out in the movie; although the diverse cast sends a message of its own.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton; directed by David Yates; based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
More	A well-crafted picture, entertaining, and with some edge; on the other hand, this is not as fun-to-watch as some earlier movies.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Sicko Photos
Plot	This is a documentary about the American health case system, and it advocates a national single payer system as in Canada, England or France. It has a number of predictable sad stories, and happy anecdotes from foreign cities. It also has a trip to visit a hospital in Cuba with sick New York City firefighters.
Review	The is a plain documentary, and I would not mind watching it on TV. The big screen does nothing for it. It highlights an important issue, but it does not rise to the level of "Bowling for Colombine" or "An Inconvenient Truth." I am more sympathetic to the health care problems after seeing this, but I wish I would have seen something else instead.
Cast and Crew	Starring, written, directed and produced by Micheal Moore
More	Enlightening but not entertaining. Better than watching 60 Minutes, but not that much better.
Rating	1.5 <

Title	Live Free or Die Hard Photos
Plot	Bruce Willis plays NY detective Jack McClane who gets involved with a hack plot to take over the United States by hacking communication, transportation and financial systems. Jack hooks up with a friendly hacker and goes after the bad guys.
Review	The movie is pure escapist entertainment. It is fun to watch and has no redeeming social value or message. The action is fast paced and the plot is just strong enough to thread the action scenes together. At the end the plot gets comic-book like, but that is par for the course in this genre. I thought it was a lot of fun, and if you are looking for thoughtful plotting, you will be disappointed. I thought that Justin Long was entertaining.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long; directed by Len Wiseman
More	Good for the 4th of July weekend. Fun but no Oscars.
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	A Mighty Heart Photos
Plot	A dramatic retelling of the kipnapping and death of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl from the viewpoint of his wife. It mixes the couple's personal story, with the police investigation, and news reports.
Review	This movie is told in the shaky-camera style of a documentary, and this provides a sense of uneasiness as well as unreality. The movie's tale is gripping, and the actors are engaging. The highlight is Angelina Jolies' lamination after the death of Daniel. The movie does not end with his death, and is not exceptionally depressing -- although it is pretty dark, and focuses attention on the tragedy of war generally. It also comes out against racial hatred.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi; directed by Michael Winterbottom; based on the book by Mariane Pearl
More	I wondered if a less well-recognized actress would have been better, but I don't think so. I think Angelina did a fine job. I also liked Archie Panjie, who was a necessary foil. I think Angelin a Jolie looked sufficently like the real Marianne Pearl, although I understand why it might have been better to cast an actress who was part black.
Rating	2.5 < <

Title	Mr. Brooks. Photos
Plot	Mr. Brooks is a successful familyman and businessman, who also has a secret life as a serial killer. Later it turns out that a witness to a murder wants lessons on how to be a serial killer. Mr. Brook's daughter is pregnant and may have killed the father.
Review	The movie is great because of the Kevin Costner character and his interior dialog with his alter-ego Marshall, played by William Hurt. I liked hearing his brooding about killing and repenting. The plot is unrealistic, but so what. I liked Marge Helgenberger too. There is a question about whether this movie is a serious study of troubled lives, or just a twisted genre film. I think it is just escapism.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt, and Marg Helgenberger
More	Highly recommended for fun, but no larger artistic message
Rating	3.0 < < <

Title	Knocked Up. Photos
Plot	A TV personality gets pregnant with a loser pot-head, but she falls in love anyway --the movie turns into a romantic comedy. The girl's sister has marriage problems, and the boy's family are all losers.
Review	The movie was enjoyable and engaging. It is a cute comedy and does not have any serious pretentions. Katherine Heigl did a great job. There was a lot of humor about slackers and sex addicts. The ending of all romantic comedies is unbelievable, and this is no different, but at least you feel good at the end. The movie is not as gross as the reviews make one think. In fact how prudish are these critics; this is pretty mainstream R rated stuff--of course there is that child birth scene. A well written movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl; Written and directed by Judd Apatow
More	Entertaining. Who knew Katherine Haigl could act?
Rating	2 < <

Title	Waitress. Photos
Plot	A waitress and cook at a pie restaurant has an unhappy marriage and then gets pregnant. She falls in love with her doctor, and tries to work things out.
Review	This is an offbeat movie that is more about the saddness and absurdity of life than it is a romantic comedy. The performances are all strong especially by Keri Russell. I liked the attitude the film brought to the movie.
Cast and Crew	Starring: .Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines and Adrienne Shelly; written and directed by Adrienne Shelly
More	Highly recommended
Rating	3.5 < < <

Title	Fracture. Photos
Plot	A complex, character-driven mystery-drama. A man murders his wife because she is having an affair with a cop. The cop gets trapped in a plot which plays out during the trial.
Review	The directing, writing and art direction are top notch, as is the performance by Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. I liked the way the scenery foretold the story, and I liked how Ted Crawford has everyone out-smarted. Of course he was a murderer, but the other people in the story are not being so nice either. The movie was fun to watch, and had funny and dramatic parts. At bottom though the movie is escapist entertainment, and does not aspire to more than entertainment. I have to brag that I had the gun ploy figured out, but that was fun. Also the bit about Willy falling in love with his new boss is dumb.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathaim; directed by Gregory Hoblit, story by Daniel Pyne
More	Fun to watch. Petered out at the end. I'd like to see it again, but not something to buy. They could have picked a better title, Fracture, is that about accidents?
Rating	3+ < < <

Title	Spider-Man 3 Photos
Plot	A complex story that works on the comic book, emotional, and metaphorical levels. Peter Parker's personal troubles spill over into his superhero existance. Mary Jane's acting life takes a turn for the worse, and Peter's high school friend, Harry, (who is also the Green Goblin) becomes a friend, and then a romantic rival. In the end Spiderman fights two villians who represent his own passions, and gets unexpected help.
Review	This is a dramatically successful action-adventure movie. I thought that the time spent developing the characters was well-worth the investment, and that the action sequences were better since they were well motivated. I also liked how the action sequences paralleled the dramatic story in a metaphorical sense. While I thought that the action sequences in Spiderman 2 were better, I liked the metaphorical level better in this movie. I liked how Peter literally battled his interior demon and won. This movie was well directed from the opening credits, which were masterful, and it was well written to develop such a great parallel structure with strong characters. Top notch.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Tobey Maquire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco; written and directed by Sam Raimi.
More	Better than almost all movies in balancing meaning with fun. That is the goal of an intelligent movie. A true masterstroke for Sam Raimi! A worthy successor to the outstanding Spiderman II.
Rating	4.0 < < < <

Title	Hoax. Photos
Plot	Based on the hoax that Clifford Irving attempted with a fake authorized biography of the billionaire Howard Hughes in the 1960's. It shows the events from Irving's point of view, and in the end it all unravels. Since it is based on Irving's recollection of events, it is all suspect. Part way through the director begins to include fantasy sequences of the hoax events, which some may find confusing, but I thought it added another dimension.
Review	This was an interesting movie. The performance by Richard Gere made the movie interesting. I also liked the way the movie picked up the feeling of the period, and I liked the beginning where Irving gets sucked into the hoax. I also liked how the director had fantasy sequences later in the movie to show that Irving was tricking himself, at the same time the hoax is also being played on the audience. The subject matter of a fake book is a little dry. Although Stanley Tucci's character was interesting none of the other sub-plots were any good. I did not like the character of Dick (Alred Molina).
Cast and Crew	Starring: Richard Gere, Alfered Molina, Hope Davis
More	Interesting, but that is be best I can say for it. It was not fun to watch. A possible best actor vehicle for Richard Gere.
Rating	2.5 < < 1/2<

Title	Music and Lyrics. Photos
Plot	A washed up 80's pop singer finds a cute young lyric writer and they write some songs, flirt and fall in love.
Review	This movie is really light. It is pleasant and happy, and Drew Berrymore and Hugh Grant are fun to watch. The end of the movie is too sappy to be believed, and the whole thing is formulaic. There are some interesting twists and some laughs. This is only escapist entertainment.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Drew Berrymore, Hugh Grant; written and directed by Marc Lawence
More	Who knew that Hugh Grant could sing?
Rating	1.5 <

Title	Blades of Glory Photos
Plot	To avoid a suspension from skating, two male figure skaters team up for championship competition. The guys are jealous of each other, a simple love story, and there is a pair of rivals. I
Review	There are some funny parts, mostly the kind that make you cringe at the same time. This movie has a strange relationship with homosexuality - the movie is clearly pretty open to sex-role switching, but most of the jokes poke fun at homosexuality. A lot of physical humor and crotch jokes. Having said that a lot of the movie is funny. There is not a lot to talk about afterword.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Will Ferrell, Jon Heder; directed by Josh Gordon
More	Funny movies are hard to rate.
Rating	2 < <

Title	Bridge to Terabithia Photos
Plot	A middle school boy and girl escape their school-world problems in a fantasy world. At the end of the movie there is a tragic plot twist.
Review	The beginning of the movie is truly banal, but once they get to Terabirtha, the fantasy world, I liked the movie better. There is an interesting interplay between the school-world problems and the fantasy world enemies. The young actors perform well, but not exceptional. The movie is too heavy handed for my taste. The young actors did a fine job.
Cast and Crew	Starring: Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSphia Robb; directed by Gabor Csupo
More	I like the idea that the girl, Leslie, is part of the fantasy world, and that as the boy moves into the adult world she goes away. Aside from the fact that the girl is a child of the writers, there is little to support that. But it would be a better movie if that were true. I also liked that they actually build a bridge to Terabithia in the literal sense. The music teacher Zooey Deschanel, Ms Edmonds, was Trillian in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and has a number of movies coming out.
Rating	1.5-

Late 2006 Movies

Movie	Plot	Review	Actors	Stars
The Three Hundred Site Photos	The movie is a dramatization of the battle between Sparta and Persia in the Battle of Thermopylae of the Greco-Persian war in 480 BC. In this battle, King Leonidas I battled to hold a mountain pass with a small group of soldiers because the priests did not want a battle to occur during a religious festival. In the end, everyone dies, but the Greeks gain valuable time and win the war, although they lost the battle. The movie also has scenes of life in Sparta, although it is not too historically accurate.	The movie is a modern, dramatic story of good against evil. The good are white people fighting for freedom and other modern ideals, and the evil force are ugly, imperialistic, slave-driving, dark-skinned, king-worshipers. I would like to have seen more black-haired Greeks, although no one really knows what Greeks of this era looked like. There is lots of slow-motion sword play. There is enough set-up to follow the political struggles inside Sparta that lead to the problem. The battle scenes are well done, and differ one to the next so they are not boring. The movie has live action and CGI backgrounds and the result is a nice theatrical effect that I did not find distracting. I did not think that the acting was that great. It was a plot driven rather than character driven story. The movie does have high ambition in terms of giving an ancient story modern morality play implications, and I liked that aspect. Nonetheless I did not find the movie beautiful or fun -- it was workmanly and throught-provoking.	Gerard Butler, Lena Headey; Written and directed by Zack Snyder based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley	3.0
Zodiac Site Photos	The story of detectives and reports investigating the Zodiac killings of the 1970's in California. The investigation drags out for years, and the parties become increasingly obscessed with the killings.	A very enjoyable movie with realistic characters, great performances and a smart plot. The performance by Jake Gylenhaal as the cartoonist reminded me of Peter Parker, in that he seemed like a regular person who was little nerdy, but who was trying to do the right things. I also liked the subplot with his family. Ultimately, though like all true stories, it ends with the death of the participants, and the movie does not have a meaning or a morale like a fictional story does. That is my grip with this film is that it is a great story that is not really taking us anywhere -- we enjoy the ride, but it would be great if there were a payoff in the end.	Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, directed by David Fincher, based on the book by Robert Graysmith.	3.5
The Last King of Scotland Site My IMDB review Photos	A movie about a fictional physician who treats Ida Amin, the dicator of Uganda in the 80's. There are love stories, war stories, and travelogue footage. The movie ends with the Entebbe hostage crisis.	The movie is well crafted and always interesting. I think some of the love story is un-necessary, but it provides variety. Forest Whitaker's Ida Amin is larger than life and always commands the screen. It is convincing at the begining but less so at the end where the action becomes so extreme.	Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy; directed by Kevin McDonald.	3.0
Scanner Darkly Site Photos	This is a animated movie made from live action video. It was based on a high concept Phillip K. Dick story about an undercover drug agent who investigates himself and his friends. There is a plot line about the invasiveness of big brother. The agent becomes a drug addict, and get in trouble with the law. In a plot twist at the end, it seems that this was his boss's plan all along, which is even more creepy in a government control sense.	The characters are distant in part because of the animation technique, and the whole scene is dreamy and not-quite-realistic -- this is probably intention. We are dealing with people on drugs, and no one can tell what is real and what is a hallucination. The paranoid behavior of the drug addicts is played against the invasive behavior of the government, and much of the time we don't know what to believe. There are clever plot twists, and an unpredictable ending, which I liked. The characters were shallow. I did like the Robert Downy character though.	Keanu Reeves, Rober Downey Jr, Rory Cochran, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder; written and directed by Richard Linklater, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick.	3.0-
Notes on a Scandal Site Photos	A young teacher gets in a scandal with a student. An older teacher seems to help, but turns out to have greater problems, and a sexual interest in the younger woman.	A good story, although depressing. Great performance by Judy Drench. The whole movie is solid, but a little soft. I don't know what this movie means. I think that Judy's performance is better than Helen Mirren's in The Queen because the drama is heavier and the part is harder to perform.	Judy Drench, Cate Blanchett	3
The Queen Site Photos	A comic, satirical dramatization of the royal family after Princess Diana's death. Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth struggle to cope with the public emotion about her death.	It was so refreshing to see someone take on a contempory topic in such an intelligent way. I really liked Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and of course Helen Mirren is excellent. The satire of the government and the press is wonderful.	Helen Mirren, Michael Shee, James Cromwell	3.5
Dreamgirls Site My IMDB review Photos	A movie adaptation of the Broadway play about a trio of sisters becoming pop stars at on a Motown-like label, and where the pretty sister gets featured over the fatter, more talented one. It is said to be about the Supremes, but it could just as easily be about Destiny's Child.	This is a good movie that combines entertainment value with a thoughtful story, with good characters, fine acting and good art direction. This movie has all the elements and I loved it. I like how the story supported the songs. I also thought the movie looked appealing with colors and textures.	Jamie Foxx, Boyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson	4.0
Pan's Laberinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) Site My IMDB review Photos	A young girl and her Mom live in a miliatry camp during the Spanish Civil War, and this is mixed with an alternate reality where the girl is a princess completing a quest.	The real movie is set in Facist Spain, and is very brutal with some particularly gross medical procedures. There are also many executions and war crimes. The scenes in the fantasy world are fresh and different. Many scenes were creeply and a bit frightening. In the end, the fantasy plotline produces a happy ending, and the real life plot produces a tragedy. The girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), is interesting to watch although a little wooden. The servant girl, Maribel Verdu (Mercedes), is especially well done. The Captain (Sergi Lopez) is also well done, although under-acted. The movie is not fun, what I like the mixture of fantasy and reality, as well as the creativity. All in all, not a four because the fantasy world is not wonderous enough.	Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu; written and directed by Guillermo del Toro	3.5
Children of Men Site My IMDB review Photos	In a dystopic world, no one has had a baby in 18 years and the society is crumbling. Suddenly one black woman is pregnant and gives birth. Some anti-government rebels try to flee with the baby. It has the plot of a road movie with characters moving though different un-related scenes.	This is an interesting movie and memorable movie with a good premise and some nice farcical touches like the animals running around, and a great visual of the pig from Pink Flyld's album cover. Claire-Hope Ashitey and Julianne Moore had good performances. I was not thrilled by Clive Owen and especially Michael Caine. So what did this movie mean? I think it meant that men had made the world so terrible that it is no longer a good place for children. The "Children of Men" are not real children, but instead War and Strife. The begining of the movie was better. As a fan of the PD James novel I regret this movie did not turn out better. This movie is more a sequal with little relationship to the novel.	Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Michael Caine; directed by Alfonso Cuaron	2.5
Rocky Balboa Site My IMDB review Photos	The elder Rocky mourns the death of his wife, runs a restaurant and talks with his son. Rocky decides to fight the champion on a exhibition fight.	The improbable storyline is handled with humor and perspective. The characters of Rocky, his girlfriend, his brother-in-law, and his son are all well-acted, well-written and interesting. Slyvester Stallone's acting is especially good, and his screenwriting is also excellent. I think Burt Young deserves an Oscar for his performance as Rocky's brother in=law Paulie. The movie is about digging down deep and not giving up. It is a bit melodramatic though. Better than 90% of all Hollywood movies.	Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Geraldine Hughes; written and directed by Sylvester Stallone	3.5
The Good Shepherd Site My IMDB review Photos	A spy story about espionage from WWII to the Cuban crisis. One agent is recruited in college, gets married, has adventures, has a son who joins the CIA, and moves into the top ranks of the CIA.	A good movie drama with a complicated story and good acting. I liked the plot which takes some time to develop. The movie is non-linear and some of the story is vague. This is part of the nature of spying in that one never knows who to trust. The movie is worth a second viewing to pick up on the details. The movie is not fun enough to be four stars, but it has a lot of solid work, and it is a movie-like movie that you like because of its story and acting, not because of some gimmick like Borat, Babel, or Blood Diamond. It does have a serious side about an elite of super-patriots, who they are and why they do what they do/did. This is not a documentary however, it is mostly a spy thriller.	Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Tammy Blanchard; directed by Robert De Niro; Written by Eric Roth.	3.5

Top 10 of 2006


#	title	comment
1	Blood Diamond	4.0
2	Borat	4.0
3	Rocky Balboa	3.5/TD>
4	Thank You for Smoking	3.5
5	The Good Shepherd	3.5 stars
6	The Devil Wears Prada	3.5 stars
7	MI-3	3.5 stars
8	Babel	3.5
7	Casino Royale	3.5

2005	Plot	Review	Actors	Stars
Munich Site	An assassin befriends a business man, and they become friends. The business man helps the other man with problems in his lonely life.	I really liked this movie, and enjoyed watching it even though the topic was serious. Spielberg talks about terrorism and revenge as well as the common humanity of all. The sceen play by Kushner and Roth was also excellent. Eric Bana gave a good thought-provoking performance. I did not think that the movie was too preachy or heavy handed.	Eric Bana; written and directed by Steven Spielberg/TD>	4.0
Capote Site	The story the writing of Capote's work "In Cold Blood" and a profile of Capote. The book is about the murder of a farm family, and the story of the criminals.	I like the Capote character that Phillip Seymour Hoffman created. He seems like a person I would like to get to know. His characterization is the best part of the movie. The second best was the East meets Mid-West aspect of the movie where Capote stomps around Kansasbut somehow fits in. It provides a sense of grounding to the work on an elite intellectual author like Capote. Having said that, this movie is not really a message movie. It was nice to see our gay hero did not have take anyone to bed.	Phillip Seymour Hoffman; directed by Bennett Miller	3.0
The Matador Site	An assassin befriends a business man, and they become friends. The business man helps the other man with problems in his lonely life.	This is a quarky uneven movie. On one hand we have a great relationship story between two guys. A better relationship than the one between the shephards in Brokeback, and one with better dialog. On the other hand, the movie is really about what happens when a fictional character like a spy/assassin shows up in real life with real people. How would people react, and does it make sense. The move does not really discuss that, but simply has fun with it, and that makes it an average movie instead of a good one. I really liked the perfomance by Pierce Brosnan. Hope Davis was good and Greg Kinnear was solid, but not inspired. The bright colors of the art direction was pretty cool.	Pierce Brosan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis; written and directed by Richard Shepard	3.0
Brokeback Mountain Site	Two hands at a sheep ranch have sex during one lonely summer, and continue the relationship into their adult life, creating love triangles with their future wives. It explores the power of homosexual lust in adult men. Later they face discrimination.	This movie is a story about how sex between two lonely young men gets confused with love. Some interpret the their relationship as a love story and see the movie as an allegory homosexual lovers in 21st century American society, but this is a false analogy. The men don't really love each other, they don't do the things lovers do like take care for each other, communicate through letters or phone calls, laugh at each others jokes (very little smiling in this movie), even go fishing together. The best part is the relationship between Ennis and Alma (Ledger and Williams). This relation takes place in the real world not the pretend world of the mountain. Williams gives the best performance in the movie.	Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams; directed by Ang Lee, based on the short story by E. Annie Proulx	2.0
Matchpoint Site	An English tennis player retires and develops a love triangle with an unemployed actress and a rich hieress.	This is a tense suspenseful movie with richly drawn characters and excellent dialogue. There are many strong performances especially by Rhys-Meyers and Johansson. I found the movie so intense I did not think that I could stand to watch, but I did. It is great to be so deeply involved with the characters and the movie. I also liked the thoughtfulness about the role of talent and luck in life. I did not like the score. They could have kept the dreadful opera music out.	Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, written and directed by Woody Allen	4.0
Mr and Mrs Smith Site	Two assassins marry each other without telling each other they are assassins. When they find out, they have a fight, and eventually make-up.	This movie is cool and fun to watch. It has some likeability, and the scenes with the marriage counselor are funny. The movie fails generally because being an assassin is not funny, and they can't get around the fact that they kill people for no reason. If they were spys it might have been possible to make a clever ending, and provide the whole thing with a motivation, but these guys just kill for money. At the end their bosses double cross them, and they can't go kill them without being really mean and unfunny.	Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie directed by Doug Liman	2.0
King Kong Site	A director finds King Kong on a primative island, and brings him back to New York where he escapes and terrorizes the city.	A top notch picture that is fun to watch, scary, and satisfying. I really liked the jungle scenes. The whole movie was well made, and does not seem nearly as long as 3 hours. It was very clever to set this in the 30's.	Naomi Watts, Jack Black; directed by Peter Jackson	3.5
Syriana Site	A highly cynical and political movie about the oil business, US hegemony and Arab society. A secret agent and an oil company lawyer work to guarantee oil to all Americans	This movie is worthwhile on the level of a politcal statement, because as a movie it is only fair. It is entertaining enough, but the oil companies and the US government are thoroughly corrupt -- probably more corrupt than they really are. However, American business in third world countries can be imperialistic, and American policy in Iraq speaks for itself. I would have liked a better treatment of the motivation of the Arab revolutionaries.	George Clooney, written and directed by Stephen Gaghan; based on a book by Robert Baer	2.5
Walking the Line Site	The movie is based on the autobiography of Johnny Cash. It includes his childhood, marriage and rise to fame.	This was a good movie because of how well developed the characters are, and the wonderful interaction between Phoenix and Witherspoon. The music was enjoyable even though I don't care for country music generally. I liked the facial expressions and reaction shots of the actors. I liked the feeling of being on tour with these musicians in the 60's and 70's. I liked that the actors did their own music (at least mostly.) I think the Witherspoons performance is good enough for a supporting actress nomination.	Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon; directed by James Mangold; based on books by Johnny Cash	3.5
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Site My IMDB review	Harry enters a grand wizarding tournement, but is in over his head.	First of all, I enjoyed this movie, and I want to see it again on video. I am a fan however, and no one who has not read the book could ever follow the story -- especially the end. So if your a fan you should see it. They do a nice job with certain scenes, and it is fun to see them. On the other had, it is not a good movie. It does not hang together as a story for a non-fan. The characters don't engage enough. Everyone is expected to know the whole backstory and even recognize the actors from other movies. This movie strikes me as a marathon to pack in as much plot as possible, and it does not have enough heart. I liked some of the story simplifications, but it needed more interplay between the characters. The young actors are have always been good, and continue to be. The best part of this movie was the dance scene. This is the weakest of the four movies so far. That may be because the three contests of the story are hard to make into a movie. I would have trimmed it down to two contests or simply made two movies out of it.	Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint; directed by Steven Kloves; based on the book by J.K. Rowling/TD>	2.5
The Weather Man Site My IMDB review	A middle aged weather man with a failing family life, sick parent and dull job copes with his life and aspires to move to a national TV show.	A great movie about the modern dilemma. It is about American society and its problems seen through the life of one guy. It talks about his problems, his mortality, his moral failings, and his caring soul as well. Nicely written, great photography of Lake Michigan. Lots of great scenes with Nicholas Cage who pulls off this difficult role. Many sadly comic scenes including a wonderful dream sequence with Sponge Bob that is a wonderfully surreal. I am afraid that disapproving critics don't understand the deep irony and existential humor like Kurt Vonnegut's. Nothing illustrates this better than the scene where Cage's character sees the giant balloon of Sponge Bob floating by. The meaning and meaningless of life together with family and ambition together with human frailty come together wonderfully and with humor.	Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis; directed by Gore Verbinski; written by Steve Conrad	4.0
North Country Site My IMDB review	A single mom gets a job in a Minnesota iron mine in the early 80's and experiences extensive sexual discrimination, harassment and assault.	An overly earnest movie about sexual harassment told through the stories of some great characters. One can enjoy the characters and their experiences even though the company men are cartoon villians. It is clear early in the movie that this is a woman-good/men-bad movie. The men are just oppress the heroines for no real reason, much like villians in James Bond simply want to take over the world, for no good reason. This is an excellent telling of a feminist pamphlet, and does not really aspire to be a great film. The message of this movie is pro-Sisterhood in a big way. Charlize gives a great performance despite the handicap of being too pretty for the role. Frances McDormand is a joy to watch. I would have liked more subtlety especially at the begining. Seriously I almost walked out watching these stereotyped guys being so relentlessly mean. Now I know the script-writer needed to make the bad guys awful to great sympathy for the woman, but it was not done that well.	Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand,, Woody Harrelson, Jeremy Renner; directed by Nike Caro, based on the book by Clara Bingham writing as Laura Leedy	2.0
Serenity Site My IMDB review	A mind-reading girl, who was trained as a commando, knows too much and is to be killed. Her brother breaks her out, and hooks up with a band of space pirates.	This was an enjoyable worthwhile movie. The cast ensemble worked together well and minor characters were well developed. The dialog was interesting if a bit archaic. What kept this from being a real winner was River (Summer Glau); she really did not deliver the believable performance as a mad-woman/killing machine or that was an impossible job and the basic premise of the movie was not real well founded. Still, a better movie than most I have seen in the last few months, not counting Pengiuns.	Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres; written & directed by Joss Wendon; based on the TV show Firefly	2.5+
A History of Violence Site My IMDB review	SPOILER A movie about a small town dad who has a history of violence. This history comes to find him in his new small town life.	Well, I liked the second half of the movie the best, when it was trying to be dark. At the begining it was too treacle sweet and phony. I have considered that it was supposed to seem phony, because it was, and I have decided that that gives the film too much credit. I liked the plot with the teen ager who gets bullied by kids, but I am not sure how that contributes to the movie. Viggo's performance was only OK, too wooden. I think we needed to see some subtly in the 1st half of the movie before we know his secret. Now the performance by William Hurt was excellent -- as good as the publicity said it was. Maria Bello did a nice job as did the Ashton Holmes. I thought the direction was uninspired except for the William Hurt scene.	Viggo Mortensen , Maria Bello, William Hurt, Ed Haris; directed by David Croneneberg; based on the comic book by John Wagner and Vince Locke	2.0
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride Site	An animated movie about a guy who marries a dead girl, but really loves another living girl.	There is one good Danny Elfman song, remains of the day with some wonderful video. The movie is not that scary, but there are some gross parts. The art direction is OK, but nothing special. Entertaining, but not that great.	directed by Tim Burton	2.0
Kung Fu Hustle (Gong Fu) Site	A Chinese small time hoodlum tries to break into the crime gang by harassing poor people. The poor people turn out to have powerful Kung Fu masters in their midst. In the end the gangster becomes a hero.	Clever and interesting Kung Fu movie spoof. Lots of interesting and zany scenes.	starring, directed and written by Steven Chow	2.5
The Constant Gardener	An Amnesty International worker marries a British Diplomat, and they uncover a crooked drug company scheme in Kenya.	I liked the first half, especially the 3rd world foreigness - it reminded me of Hotel Rwanda. The second half spoils it because it mistakes the real profit-oriented bad behavior of drug companies in the first world with their 3rd world behavior. Does anyone really think they are going to get rich scamming subsistance farmers in Africa, when their are vain lazy Americans to scam with Viagra and Propecia? I know that movie villians are often cartoons, but this movie stereotype really detracted from the documentary style of the beginning. I liked both Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. Nice cinematography.	Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz; directed by Fernando Meirelles, based on the novel by John Le Carre	2.5
In Good Company	In an obvious parity of the AOL-Time/Warner merger, a 26 year old becomes vice president at a ersatz Sports Illustrated magazine. He then falls in love with the daughter of the guy he replaced.	Really nice performance by Scarlett Johansson and solid performance by Topher Grace. Dennis Quaid is a likeable guy, but not really top notch. I liked the Dilbert-like parity of dot-com business-speak. This is not a serious comedy, but a light fun flick.	Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson; written and directed by Paul Weitz	2.5
Red Eye Site	Thriller about a woman on an airplane blackmailed to help in an assassination plot of a government official.	This was an enjoyable and diverting movie that features great dialog and performances between Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. I also liked Jayma Mays performance who I really thought was a mousy clerk. It goes without saying that the plot had a dozen holes especially at the end, but that is OK this is a movie not a documentary. Also, this is an entertainment movie, there is no message in this movie except perhaps to always keep fighting.	Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Jayma Mays; directed by Wed Craven	2.0
The March of the Penguins Site	Picturesque documentary about Emperor Penguins, and their exotic breeding and roosting behavior.	Enjoyable naturalist and scientific movie about penguins. Many remarkable pictures starring those remarkable penguins. More enoyable in the theater than at home. Baby penguins are very cute.	Voice over by Morgan Freeman; written & directed by Luc Jacuet	3.0
The 40 Year Old Virgin Site My IMDB review	A romantic comedy about a nerdy geek getting set up with girls by his friends. so that he can have sex. Lots of situation comedy type humor, like a good sitcom, the main character is sympathetic, and the supporting characters are suitably wierd & well developed.	!!MINOR SPOILER!! The basic premise of this movie about a geeky guy is weak, even offensive. The movie somehow overcomes this, and lampoons the bar scene, birth control, porn, and kinky sex; and oh yes, its funny. It is not a stupid romantic comedy, perhaps vulgar and foul, but that goes with the territory. It does end with a love story. The hair waxing scene is a future classic, and the ending with the 60's music and dancing to illustrate the Joy of Sex is also very funny.	Steve Carell, Catherine Keener; directed by Judd Apatow	2.5
The Machinist (El Maquinista) Site My IMDB review	!!MAJOR SPOILER!! A machinist becomes psychotic and schizo to block out killing a child in a hit & run auto accident.	A dark slow movie about an insane guy. Very nice cinematography and art direction. I thought that Jennifer Jason Leigh was well done. I liked some of the exposion of the story, but generally it was just a game to figure out what was happening. Not to much going on emotionally.	Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Brad Anderson	2.0
Must Love Dogs Site My IMDB review	A forty-ish newly divorced teacher looks for a new guy. Lots of intereaction with her brother, sisters and father. She falls for a guy who builds boats.	The best part about this movie is the chemistry between Diane Lane and John Cusack. The worst part was the general predictability and light as air gags and sterotypes. I liked the dialog with the sisters.	Diane Lane, John Cusack; directed by Gary David Goldberg based on the novel by Claire Cook	2.0
Wedding Crashers Site	Two guys crash weddings for to meet girls cheap. At a wedding with a rich well-connected family both guys fall in love. Many wierd characters.	I did not really care for the begining, because two guys are not really very likeable. It gets better when Rachel McAdam's character enters the movie. Good performances by Owen Wilson , Rachel McAdams and Jane Seymour. I liked the creepy gay artist brother.	Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, and Isla Fisher; directed by David Dobkin	2.0
War of the Worlds Site	Space invaders exterminate earth people. The movie focuses on a man and his two children's frightning adventures.	This movie is fun to watch and experience. It does not really make sense, but so what? It has a family movie ending where the whole family gets back together. Crummy music, John Williams should retire. The overall meaning that God is watching out for us, is nice, but not really reinforced by the movie. It is not great that the climax is resolved through no action at all of our hero or really any human. It seems that God saved us. It would have been good to have Ray Ferrier pray. I loved Dakota Fanning. Tom Cruise gives a great performance. Great pictures. Good dialog. Nice focus on the human story. It does not work on the level of a science fiction though. It works as a monster movie, or maybe as a modern existentialist movie.	Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti; directed by Ron Howard; story & screenplay by Cliff Hollinngsworth	3.0
Cinderella Man Site	A washed up boxer with three little kids and a family makes a predictable and melodramatic comeback. Based on a true story during the Depression. During the depression this gave people a good fealing rather like Seabiscuit but with boxers.	We know that Russell Crowe is capable of good action from Beautiful Mind, but he does not show it here. I have never really been conviced that Ron Howard makes anything but milquetoast feel-good flicks, and I still think that way. The movie never captures the feeling of an underdog. It has the feeling of people acting out their fates. A decent performance by Zellweger. A good performance by Paul Giamatti. I liked Bruce McGill too. The cinematography was good, but the begining of the movie was drearly and slow.	Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti; directed by Ron Howard; story & screenplay by Cliff Hollinngsworth	2.0
Secondhand Lions	Kid stays with his elderly uncles. Many flashbacks of the uncles adventures as young men.	Happy litte comedy with some tenderness and some sadness	Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti; directed by Ron Howard; story & screenplay by Cliff Hollinngsworth	2.0
Along Came Polly	Jilted boy mets goofy girl and falls in love.	Jennifer Aniston is good, but mostly this movie s boring.	Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston; written and directed by John Hamburg	1.5
Batman Begins Site	The movie begins with Bruce Wayne's relation ship with his parents, a scary eposode with bats, his parent's death, Bruces visit to a martial arts master in Tibet, and then his return to Gotham city to fight crime and decay. His childhood girlfriend is in the story.	This is the best super hero movie I have ever seen. The super powers are not so super, and the treatment of the mental and spiritual nature is more in depth. I liked the tie between the childhood fears and he batman character. It was refreshing that there was no 007-style comic relief. Bast performances by Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The art direction was solid, but not as great as the Tim Burton films. The movie gets 3.5 stars because it is a great movie only in its own universe of super hero movies. It does not really tell a univrsal story, only a story about how a guy becomes a superhero, which of course is make-beleive.	Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Michael Caine; written & directed by Christofer Nolan; story by David Goyer More	3.5
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith Site	Anikin Skywalker completes his transformation to Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious completes his conquest of the galaxy.	I loved it. It was thoughtful and fun. Vader is a complex villian we sympathize with. I liked almost everything about this movie. From the action packed opening scene to the tortured soul of Ankin as he toils with loyalty to his wife and loyalty to the state. This movie delivers real ethical dilemmas. The weakness of this movie is that there is so much action and plot that the emotional connections are not well explored -- So no acting Oscars, but my rating system gives extra points for ambition and operatic sweep. More	Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid; written & directed by George Lucas	4.0
Crash Site	A top film. A series of characters united by their involvement in a auto crash in Los Angeles. The movie pursues a web os stories focusing on prejudice and racism, frequently so bigoted as to be humorous.	This movie is a series of powerful scenes among different characters in a large and talented cast. Most memorible are the troubled Sondra Bollock character confronting her husband and then coming to grips with her lonliness. The Don Cheadle character and Matt Dillion characters both are troubled internally by their decling parents. There is an astounding scene where a young person is shot, very gripping. With so many good performances, the directing must be the cause. Kudos to Paul Haggis. Finally the movie makes you think about the sad condition of humanity and the briefness of life. More	Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Ludacris, and more; written & directed by Paul Haggis/TD>	3.5
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Site	A farsical adventure about a group of people's adventures hitchhiking around the galaxy staying a step ahead of pursuers.	This movie is so farcical that it is hard to care about the characters as characters. The movie does not follow the book exactly in plot, but some of the jokes are lifted word-for-word from the book. The best aspect of the book is the existentialist angst, but in the movie, the medium dilutes this. It feels less satisfying. I thought Martin Freeman could have been a better actor. While the book is about the arbitariness and meaningless of life, the movie is about love and saving the earth too. It really is quite different. So, did I have fun. Sure. Do I want to see the sequel? Absolutely. Was it generally a disappointment? Yeah.	Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, directed by Garth Jennings, based on the book by Douglas Adams	2.0
The Interpreter Site	An interpreter overhears something about a murder plot at the UN. A secret service agent investigates. The interpreter has a past that we learn about piece-by-piece that ties her in the murder intrigue.	This movie is fun to watch, and I loved the subtle acting and dramatic camera work. Kidman's subtle reactions to dialog and circumstances is masterful. This movie is not a political picture that carries a message, and it is not a documentary about a real country. Basically this is a thriller picture that is better than most. It does make some points about forgiving one's enemies, but most of the political points are simply there to give the characters something to talk about.	Nichole Kidman, Sean Penn; directed by Sydney Pollack	3.0
Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason Site	Bridget is uncomfortable with her boyfriend, and is generally insecure.	This movie is insubstantial, but still fun to watch. Renee Zellweger acts so well with her face that the silly little incidents are cute rather than dumb.	Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant; directed by Beeban Kidron; based on the novel by Helen Fielding	2.0
Fever Pitch Site	A rabid Red Sox fan and a career girl fall in love.	I liked this movie because I liked the charcters played by Fallon and Barrymore. The movie had several funny jokes, but the best parts were the one-on-one scenes with the couple. Now this is a predictable romantic comedy and follows the time-honored formula for romantic comedies, and it has little meaning beyond "Love can Conquer All", but despite this or because of it I liked it anyway. Does this make me a weenie?	Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore; written, directed by Bobby & Peter Farrelly	2.5
The Upside of Anger Site	A single mom with 4 daughters flirts with a washed-up ball player.	The Upside of Anger is a light drama about troubled lives and what to do when bad things happen. Mostly it is about coping with heart-ache. There is some writing. A good performance by Costner, and I liked one of the daughters, Evan Rachel Wood . I thought that Joan Allen and the other daughters could have been stronger.	Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Evan Rachel Wood,; written, directed & costarring Mike Binder	3.0
Dodgeball	A bankrupt gym raises maney in a dodgeball tournementm\ and faces an arch-rivl in the finals.	Some funny scenes. The best are satire on corporations. Ben STiller is very funny as the villian.	Vinve Vaughn, Ben Stiller; written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber	2.5
Robots	Robot goes to the big city and saves the world from money-grabbing corporate evildoer.	Childish story with childish humor and dreary art direction. Joyless unless you like fart jokes.	voices by assorted big name actors, directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha	1.0
Meet the Fockers Site	An engaged couple has a weekend with both of their parents together. One set of parents are a house husband and a sex therapist. The other set is stay-at-home Mom and a ex-CIA agent. Lots of clever jokes, and they get married at the end.	Very enjoyable. One of the most fun & funny movies of the year. A clever movie with great comedic performances all around. The script is well drawn, and the reactions of the characters are great. Especially good is Dustin Hoffman. Teri Polo does a nice job and is seldom credited among the bigger stars. The movie is just for laughes, and does not have any message or meaning.	Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Steisand, Teri Polo; directed by Jay Roach	3.0+

2004	Plot	Review	Actors	Stars
Meet the Fockers Site	An engaged couple has a weekend with both of their parents together. One set of parents are a house husband and a sex therapist. The other set is stay-at-home Mom and a ex-CIA agent. Lots of clever jokes, and they get married at the end.	Very enjoyable. One of the most fun & funny movies of the year. A clever movie with great comedic performances all around. The script is well drawn, and the reactions of the characters are great. Especially good is Dustin Hoffman. Teri Polo does a nice job and is seldom credited among the bigger stars. The movie is just for laughes, and does not have any message or meaning.	Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Steisand, Teri Polo; directed by Jay Roach/TD>	3.0+
Hotel Rwanda Site	This movie is set during the Rwanda civil war which had great brutality and ethnic cleansing. The movie is about a hotel owner who tried to keep his family, guests and some refugees alive.	Powerful and worthwhile story that is moving and emotional without being melodramatic or too preachy. Don Cheadle contributes a good performance. Nick Nolte is flat. The power of this story is the power of the events it is about. Good supporting performance by Fana Mokoena as General Bizimungo. Because it is essentially a true story, the movie makes me think about it could have turned out better.	Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo; cowritten & directed by Terry George	3.5
Million Dollar Baby Site	A woman boxer with a reluctant old coach nearly become champions before (MAJOR SPOILER) she is paralyzed and faces euthanasia.There are subplots with the coach feeling guitly about something, an estranged daughter and the fighter's deadbeat family.	Performance by Hillary Swank is top notch and Morgan Freeman & Clint Eastwood are nearly as good. The photography and visual style are superior. The movie's story is not predictable, but every step is leading to the final climax. More than all of this, it was fun to watch. The is a meaningful movie about life, the worthwhileness of life and love, because it is fun and meaningful it is the best movie of the year.	Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman; directed by Clint Eastwood	4.0
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Site	A spoof of Jacques Cousteau in which an aging sea explorer goes on a trouble adventure with a man who is his son, his wife and a pregant reporter.	It is a post-modern spoof of Cousteau documentaries, but there are so many weird side plots with the missing son, the estranged wife, the powerful rival, pandering to the reporter and so on. I like the clever plot and I like Murray's performance a great deal. I like how the animals are animated making this the opposite of a real nature documentary. Well written. This is a movie which I appreciate more as a reflect on it.	Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston; cowritten & directed Wes Anderson	3.5
The Stepford Wives Site	A couple moves to Stepford, Connecticut. The wives are all robots who act in a stereotypicaly perfect fashion. The men are somehow turning their wives into robots. At then it turns out the leader's wife (Glenn Close) is the mastermind, and that the supposed leader is really a robot.	Good performances by Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick. The art direction is excellent. The message of the film is that imperfect and human is better than perfect and robotic. The film gets too hung-up on the science fiction aspects of making women into robots. Since we can't do this, and spending too much time explaining how makes it seem stupid, and they did not need to explain it. The movie is not really fun, but it is interesting. The movie is not really about feminism and the 1950's American Utopian life as the earlier versions were. I would have liked a fresher avenue for this satire than the feminist revolution. Also what was the deal with the wive being a cash machine. I think it was suppose to show the surrealism of Stepford, but I don't see how surrealism fits into the message of the movie.	Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Better Midler, Clenn Close, Christopher Walken; directed by Frank Oz	2.5
Anchorman The Legend of Ron Burgundy Site	A woman invades the TV newsroom of 70's anchor Ron Burgundy. Lots of gender warfare.	Mostly childish and stupid. One good laugh in a gang fight between rival channels like from Gangs of New York.	Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate; directed by Adam McKay	1.5
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Site	Orphans are harrassed through three adventures by their Uncle Count Olef, played by Jim Carrey.	I like the idea of a story of tragedies involving children, and the ironic tone of the movie. The adult performances were stupid, although the children were played well. Some moments of good art direction especially in the third scene, which was the best - with Meryll Strep.	Jim Carrey, Jude Law, Emily Browning; directed by Brad Silberling based on the book by Daniel Handler	1.5
The Aviator Site	Biography of aviation pioneer industrials and Hollywood mogul Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes built fast airplanes, dated starlets and suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder.	This is the tragic story of a tortured genius who lived who had riches, glamour and coolness, but was tormented by inner demons. It tells us about ourselves and about humanness. Great performance by Leonardo DiCapro, great art direction, well directed, fine performance by Cate Blanchett.	Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett; directed by Martin Scorsese	4.0
Maria Full of Grace Site	Columbian flower girls sad life leads her to smuggle cocaine in her stomach.	A movie about a powerless girl who does what she can in difficult circumstances. It also has an American immigrant's story as a message. Well acted.	Catalina Sandino Moreno; written & directed by Joshua Marston	2.5
Ocean's Twelve Site	The victim from the previous movie makes the Ocean's gang pay back what they stole, helped by a competing thief, called the Night Fox. Julia Roberts is George Clooney's wife and Catherine Zeta-Jones is a cop.	A fantasy heist movie that has some laughs and cute parts. Mostly its a throw-away movie with lots of star power. Kinda fun to see, but the plot is a pale shadow of the first movie.	George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julia Roberts; directed by Steve Soderbergh	2.0
Sideways Site	Two friends go on tour of the California winde country as a last fling prior to one's wedding. They pursue girls and get into trouble while making wry jokes about modern life.	This is about as good as it gets. This movie was fun, funny and meaningful. I liked the characters, the clever writing and the message of the movie. It is hard to articulate what the movie means, but it is something about life is more than just the meaninglessness.	Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh; Written & directed by Alexander Payne; based on the novel by Rex Pickett.	4.0
Closer Site	A female photographer (Roberts) is hit on by a writer (Law) who introduces her to his girlfriend (Portman) and a doctor (Owen). Romance, flirting & infidelity all around.	Lots of top quality dialog that is well delivered. Gets better as it gets going. All about sex. Little other plot lines so the characters are a bit one-dimensional. A worthwhile movie, but not fun. Not really meaningful. I take it as an autobiographical movie from the point of view of the Law character showing how his life always falls apart and other people find happiness but not him. Thus the movie is a downer. I don't see much of a point other than the meaninglessness of life, and life goes on regardless of personal tragedy.	Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen; Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Partick Marber who also wrote the play.	2.5
Finding Neverland Site	A playwrite befriends a widow and her children, and bases Peter Pan on the experience.	I liked this movie. It was fun to watch and thoughtful. It has good performances by the children and from Johnny Depp.	Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet Directed by Marc Foster. Based on the play by Allan Knee	3.5
The Polar Express Site	A train takes disbelieving schoolkids to the north pole to meet Santa.	First of all this is a kid's Christmas movie. While the hype about the movie leads you to believe this is a great advancement in animation, it isn't. Motion capture or not, there is far less acting and expressiveness than in Finding Nemo or Toy Story. The movie does the best job with the animial. The scene with the wolves and the eagles may be worth the price of admission. The songs are flat. What the heck was that scene with the waiters and the hot chocolate?! In summary, OK to watch with the little kids on Christmas Eve, by otherwise avoid it. I liked to hobo too.	Tom Hanks in most roles; Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg	1.5
The Incredibles Site	A family of superheros are forced to live as normal people, but later are called on to save the world.	Great story on many levels. My favorite is how our superhero is forced to work at a boring job and not living up to his potential, when he could be saving the world. Great marital situations. Great minor characters and psychological twists. Almost a 4 star. One of the best of the year. Not really dramatic, this is still an adventure movie. Lots of cute touches.	Written and directed by Brad Bird	3.5
Ray Site	A biography of Ray Charles early life featuring his childhood, rise to stardom and early concerts.	An inspirational story of overcoming handicaps, predjudice and ambition. Well acted by Jamie Fox. A good story of the young Ray. Some very good photography. Almost a 4 star, not fun enough.	Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Sharon Warren; Directed by Taylor Hackford	3.5
Team America World Police Site	Commandos strike terrorists around the world. The commandos are like super-patriotic Power Rangers with little romantic side plots. They try to stop the terrorists and Kim Jong Il.	Very clever satire of American adventurism, American culture, and lots of funny movie gags too. There is a subplot with Hollywood fags trying to promote peace, but they all get shot. This movie actually promotes the left-wing agenda, but many people don't understand the film enough to tell that the anti-left satire is just camp. I really liked the soundtrack, the sex scene, the art direction in Kim Jong Il's palace, and especially the speech about about dicks, pussies and assholes. This was a very clever funny movie. It was fun, but not really fun. It is a political movie, not a comedy sketch.	Written & directed by Trey Parker	3.0
Friday Night Lights Site	A high school foodtabll team struggles to bring a championship to Odessa Texas. Primarily about the pressure to win and the sociology of the community.	Entertaining movie about the pressure to win and parents living though their children. The best part of the movie is the writing, art direction and direction. The movie is one of the best of the year. Good performances by the supporting cast. Billy Bob seemed flat to me.	Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Derek Luke; directed by Peter Berg, written by David Cohan based on the book by Buzz Bissinger	3.5
Supersize Me Site	Documentary about a man who eats only McDonald's food as a stunt to satirize American eating habits.	Bias, boring and preachy. Not Fun. Makes me miss Michael Moore. There are a few amusing moments, but the supposed health problems that developed are probably fictional. This blend of fiction and reality I find confusing, and since I don't like being confused, I disliked the movie.	Starring, produced and directed by Morgan Spurlock.	1.5
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Site	Set in the 1920's, a fighter pilot battles an army of powerful robots. The robots are tied to some German scientists. The pilot's girl friend tags along.	The movie is a joy to watch. It has wonderful art direction, and a comic book adventure plot. The plot is so simple it is almost a caricature of a plot. The movie has tons of style, and is a great action adventure movie. Better than most Bond movies. Cool as can be. The character development could be deeper, and this movie is simply entertainment -- no deep hidden meaning here.	Jude Law, Gweneth Paltrow, Written & directed by Kerry Conrad	3.5
Taking Lives Site	Female FBI profiler helps Montreal cops catch a serial killer. The movie becomes a game between Illeana, Jolie's character, and the killer. Oh, and why is this girl from rural Pennsylvania named Illeana? The Russian name just adds to the other-worldly , fantasy aspect of the character.	The best part about this movie is the clever plot, and there are plenty of clever reversals and twists. Ethan Hawke's performance is good. Entertaining. Not deep. There is no universal message; this movie is just-for-fun. What I find repetitive is the detective, Illeana, seems like a Bond girl in her own spin off flick. We know she is smart and beautiful, and knows everything about people's inner psyche, but why or how. There are too many fantasy super women in screenplays written by men. Now, there are plenty of unrealistic male superheros too, but Illiana is less grounded than most.	Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Directed by D. J. Caruso, based on the novel by Michael Pye	2.5
Garden State Site	Young man goes home for his Mom's funeral. He meets a girl and his old friends. Many quirky characters.	A romantic comedy with a serious side. Interesting issues about going home and a parent's death superimposed on absurd situations. Enjoyable movie. Likeable characters.	Zach Braff, Natalie Portman; Written & directed by Zach Braff	3.5
The Ring Site	Everyone who watches this video dies in 7 days. Naomi Watts' character tries to find a way to prevent her death. Lots of creepy supernatural events.	A good creepy story. Not a serious movie, but it has fun with a clever story idea and a stylish use of timing and suspense. Little blood and gore. Creepy. Only a little scary.	Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox; Directed by Gore Verbinski	2.5
Hero Ying Xiong Site	Hero stops the assassination of the King, but it turns out he is actually another assassin trying to get close enough to the king to kill him.	Some really pretty scenes with artful, dancelike fights. Like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon without the story. Sleepy. I really liked the scene where Moon and Snow, dressed in red, fight in the yellow leaves.	Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang; Directed by Yimou Zhang	1.5
The Manchurian Candidate Site	Evil corporation implants chips in the brains of soldiers and politians to get them to do what they want.	A good movie on more than one level. I liked the parallelism the present political situation and that of the movie. I liked the Senator Clinton and Senator Shaw parallelism. Fun to watch Merill Streep. Even though I liked it, it was not a really fun movie. Kind of creepy or perhaps chilling. Not that emotional a movie. Sort of cool, but not great.	Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber; Directed by Jonathan Demme; Book by Richard Condon	3.0
Collateral Site	A hired killer kidnaps a cabbie who is forced to drive the killer between assassinations.	I enjoyed this movie. I liked the dialog between Max and Vincent. I also liked the wonderful images and panoramic views. I liked the soundtrack as well. A good movie for DVD. Well acted. Tom Cruise very cool. The movie does not seem to be about anything though, except perhaps Max's lack of achievement.	Tom Cruise, Jamie Fox, Mark Ruffalo; Directed by Michael Mann	2.5
The Village Site	People live in a Amish style community in fear of a monster from the surrounding woods.	Fairly good movie. Other people's complaints about it come from an error in marketing. SPOILERS The movie is a dystopia where the elders fear of the outside world is embodied in the monsters they create from the forest to harass themselves and their children. There is little social commentary beyond this idea. You can read Lucian Hunt and Ivy Walker's love story as something that provides the courage to kill the monster and leads to the outside world. Ed Walker said that the Joaquin and Ivy represent the future of the village. Good art direction; moderately entertaining; moderately thoughtful; good performances. Still more about the horror story, the puzzle of the plot, and the art direction than a message. This keeeps it from being a great movie.	Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Pheonix, Directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky	2.5
Metalica Some Kind of Monster Site	Documentary about making a new album, and having group counseling.	A good movie. Helps me learn about other people in an interesting way. Innovative and bold movie; Not as fun as Spiderman; Interesting on a reality show level.	Directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky	3.5
Bourne Supremacy Site	An ex-spy is hunted by the CIA because he was framed by the Russians.	Fun and entertaining. Well scripted. Good characters. Nice performances by Matt Damon, Joan Allen and Brian Cox. Shakey camera movements are supposed to add to the mood, and it probably did, but I found it disruptive. Not a meaningful movie -- simply escapist. A well-done escapist movie.	Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Brian Cox; directed by Paul Greengrass; based on a book by Rober Ludlam	3.0
I Robot Site	A detective investigates crimes by robots in 2035. The robots try to take over the world. Big fight scenes.	Mostly this movie is fun. The people are interesting, and the plot works. I like the ending. I got tired by the robot battles, which seemed stupid. Good art direction. Good performance by Chi McBride. Does not have much of a message except a Luddite fear of technology, which I disagree with. So no points there.	Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Chi McBride; directed by Alex Proyas; based on a book by Issac Asmov	2.5
Secret Window Site	A writer is confronted by a stranger who charges him with plagerizing an old story. The motivation of the stranger is to harm the writer, his ex-wife and her boyfriend. SPOILER: the stranger turns out to an imaginaing of the writer who turns out to be crazy. In the end, he kills the wife and boy friend, burying them in a secret graden.	Fine performance by Johnny Depp who acts alone for much of the movie. Well directed as well. An outstanding thriller, but which is simply entertainment and that has no apirations of greatness. It provides a profile of a crazy obsessive creative personality, but does not provide universal lessons in life. The movie is fun, but not best of the year in that regard.	Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton; Screenplay and direction by David Koepp; based on a book by Stephen King	2.5
Spiderman 2 Site	We meet Doc Ock who fights Spiderman. Meanwhile Peter Parker struggles with his personal life and his relationship with Mary Jane.	A nice blend of dramatic scenes and action scenes. Good performances by Toby McGuire and Alfred Molina, and nearly everyone. Nice character-based story blended well with action. I suppose the movie is about altrusim vs. selfishness, but I did not find it thought provoking. Not as fun as the first movie, but more dramatic.	Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Directed by Sam Raimi	3.5
Fahrenheit 911 Site	An anti-Bush propaganda piece from Florida through Fallujah.	A documentary primarily told through pictures and interviews tied together with a narration by Michael Moore. It has some clever bits, and is better than most documentaries or TV newsmagazines. It is focuses on unpleasant aspects of American behavior. Yes, it succeeds in bashing Bush, but it makes an unpleasant critique of American in the 00's. It is this level of the documentary that I like the best. I am pleased he had the guts to show the Fallaujah burnt body video. It bothered me that major media were too chicken to do that. Not as good as Bowling for Columbine or Roger & Me, but more bold and ambitious.	Written & directed by Michael Moore	2.0
The Terminal Site	A traveler is stranded at JFK for 9 months because of a passport problem. He means lots people and gets in funny situations.	Played with great depth by Hanks. Although the plot is limited, it is sufficiently deep for 2 hours. It is a serious comedy that is about characters and the essential similarity of people and their needs. I enjoyed it, although some would find it slow moving. Kind of an art-house movie. Although it is slightly satirical, it is mainly a character-based story. Several good performances by the minor characters.	Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones, Stanley Tucci Directed by Stephen Spielberg	3.0
The Cooler (2003) Site	A loser is hired by a casino to ruin the luck of high-rollers. He is befriended by a waitress and falls in-love.	Really quite good. Good performances by Macy and Bello. About the importance of love. A dark comedy.	William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Directed by Wayne Kramer	3.0
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Site	A prisoner escapes from prison and comes looking for Harry.	Enjoyable story with a complicated plot. Excellent art direction as we have come to expect from the series. Fun to watch. Fast moving ending.	Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, based on the booke by J.K. Rowling	3.0
In America (2002) Site	Irish family imigrates to New York after losing a child to cancer. They meet an African artist (spoiler) who has AIDS, and conceive another baby.	Excellent story, art direction and directing. Great work by the child actresses. Meaningful and although tough, still enjoyable - ocasionally fun. Obvious parallalism between the death of the artist and the trouble birth of the new baby.	Samatha Morton, Paddy Considine, Djimon Hounsou Sarah and Emma Bolger; Written and directed by Jim Sheridan	4.0
Japanese Story Site	Japanese businessman tours western Australla with a woman. They fall in love, and (spoiler) then he dies.	Improbable and unbelieveable love story. Good performance by Toni Collette during the death scene. I never believed the love story, so movie did not work. Pretty nature pictures.	Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima; Directed by Sue Brooks	2.0
Shrek 2 Site	Animated movie about an ogre who rescues a princess. They wed, and the ogre goes to meet the in-laws. Villians try to break the couple up.	Fun and funny. Lots of original and clever scenes. Not a lot of content, but lots of craft and likeability.	Voices by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz; Written and directed by Andrew Adamson and Kelly Asbury	3.0
The Day After Tomorrow Site	Melodramic disaster flick about global climate change caused by global movie.	Too melodramatic. Many entertaining scenes. Clear message. Nice performance by Emmy Rossum. It is so over-scripted, predictable and over-wrought that it makes me want to vomit. Too campy for me. Yuk.	Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum; Directed by Roland Emmerich	1.5
Troy Site	Hollywood version of the Illiad.	Too melodramatic. Characters that I did not care about. Not realistic, but not fantastic either. Battle scenes that were not fun. Bad soundtrack.	Brad Pitt, Eric Bana Directed by Wolfgang Petersen	1.5
Mean Girls Site	New girl comes to high school, and is invited to join a fashionable clique. The girls gossip and play tricks on each other.	Funny, wry, and a bit serious all at once. Good performances in a comedic movie. some nice scenes.	Linday Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey; Directed by Mark Waters, Screenplay by Tina Fey based on Queenbees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman	3.0
Big Fish Site	An adult child tells the tall stories his father told about his life.	Not the greatest drama, but written well with an interesting interaction between the fictional stories, and what was really true. Good art direction. While worthwhile, was not engaging enough.	Ewan McGregor. Albert Finney; Directed by Tim Burton	2.5
Kill Bill Part 2 Site	Continuation of Kill Bill 1, and really part of one longer movie. The bride continue to hunt down her old friends. We learn Bill wanted to kill her new husband out of jealousy.	Fun to watch. Very well crafted and artistic. Great iconic moments. Good performance by Caradine. Good DVDs to buy. I believe whole movie is an allegory for growing up. Beatrix Kiddo is "Be-a-Kid" who needs to give up her old wild ways and/or her fantasy life when she has children. and gets a job at the used record store. The fantasy now lives on in her daughter who was taught by Bill and who watches videos with her Mom.	Uma Thurmann, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Directed by Quinten Tarantino	3.5
Kill Bill Part 1 Site	A bride seeks revenge on the murderers of her husband, family and friends.	Highly stylized dark comedy pretending to be a fantasy. Interesting, and fun to watch, but up to this point not about anything. It isn't even about the meaninglessness. It seems to be about achieving your goals.	Uma Thurmann, Lucy Liu, Directed by Quinten Tarantino	See above
Intolerable Cruelty	A gold-digger falls in lover with her ex-husband's divorce lawyer.	Cute and sometimes clever, but light. A few good comic moments. Well acted by Clooney	George Clooney, Catherine Zeta Jones; Directed by Joel Coen	2.0
Mona Lisa Smile	New insructor shakes things up at 1953 Wellesly College.	Great performance by Roberts wasted in this predictable drival. Overbearing and stupid.	Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gylien Aaal	1.0
Ladykillers Site	Robbers dig a tunnel from an old woman's house into a vault. The woman discovers the crime, and threatens to expose them. /TD>	Fun and funny movie that has many interesting characters. Well-made and fun-to-watch. Excellent performances by Tom Hanks and Irma Hall. Great church music scenes. Clever story	Tom Hanks, Irma Hall, Marlon Wayans, JK Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst, Directed & screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen	2.5
Dirty Pretty Things (2002) Site	Illegal immigrants in London, who work as hotel clerk and hotel maid, struggle to survive in London's underworld, stumbling into an illegal human organ market.	Well acted and meaningful movie about marginalized people struggling along side prosperity. Excellent performance by Audrey Tautou.	Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Directed & screenplay by Stephan Frears	3.5
Shattered Glass (2002) Site	A young writer at "The New Republic" magazine tells about his career, and how it ended in scandal.	Quirky and interesting portrail of the world of publishing. Interesting. Good performance by Christenson. Weak directing.	Hayden Christenson, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Written & directed by Billy Ray	1.5
Unfaithful(2002) Site	A young married mom strikes up a romance with a cute guy. Husband finds out and predictable consequences ensue.	A simple story well told. Nice performance by Diane Lane. Well directed.	Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez; directed by Adrian Lyne	2.0
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Site	A couple breaks up and then has their memories erased to make the break-up easier. They regret the decision, and try to stay together. Unrated because I fell asleep during the movie, but I was too tired to be at the theater.	Creative and artistic, Interesting	Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, directed & story by Michel Gondry; Written by Charlie Kaufman	no rating
Hidalgo Site	Half-indian cowboy goes to Arabia to race. Flirts with the Sheik's daughter. Fights with the cheating racers. Wins the race because his Indian Gods are stronger than the Islamic God.	Offensive to Arabs. Overly moralistic. Viggio has excellent presence, but the character is not deep, and overwhelmed by the heavy handed direction.	Viggio Mortenson, directed by Joe Johnston/A>	0.5
Passion of the Christ Site	The Good Friday story about the last few hours of Jesus' mortal life.	What you think about this movie depends on your theology. I think it was an outstanding movie. Thoughtful. Meaningful. Hard to watch. Emotional. A tough topic and a tough movie. Wonderful. Uplifting and Depressing at the same time.	James Caviezel, Maia Morgenstein, Mattia Sbragia, directed by Mel Gibson/A>	4.0
The Secret Lives of Dentists Site	A married couple, who are dentists with three kids, endure middle class crises and martial turmoil.	Interesting movie. Told with a interesting voice. Good performance by Campbell Scott. The female dentist is not developed enough. I never understand her. Too many scenes about throwing up. Acting is solid, but not outstanding. Good scenes with the kids. The movie is enjoyable but not a joy. About problems that ordinary people have.	Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, directed by Alan Rudolph, based on the book by Jane Smiley	2.5
American Splendor Site	A cartoon author writes comic books about ordinary life. He is depressed; he and his depressed wife go through cancer and recovery.	Refreshing quirky story about life and our life condition. Good performances and good writing. In the end it is about the dignity of life, and the commonality of day-to-day experiences. Cut-aways to cartoon characters and real-life people are clever but distracting. Only modestly entertaining. While the film is about the meaninglessness of life, it is not too much of a downer.	Paul Giamata, Hope Davis, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Written/directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini	3.0
Thirteen Site	Teen age girls experiment with drug, piercings and boys.	Interesting drama that has some good characters and performnces. Not actually realistic but dramatic and emotional. Well directed. Seems to be about recovery from drugs. It is not about growing up because the issues of shyness versus openness are never developed. Excellent direction. Good performance by Evan Rachel Woods.	Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Woods, Nikki Reed, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Written by Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed	2.5
28 Grams Site	A husband & two kids are killed by a hit-and-run driver. The husband's heart is transplanted. The heart recepient and the widow attempt to get revenge on the hit-and-run driver.	Good story with interesting characters, and uniformly good performances. The movies existential message is very cold. The film is thoughtful and emotional but not fun. It is good as what it is though, and a nice work in an intellectual sense. /TD>	Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, directed by Alejandro GonzalezInarritu	3.0
Monster Site	Based on a true story about a prostitute who befriends a younger girl and becomes a serial killer.	Top notch performance by Charlize Thoeren and nearly as good by Christina Ricci. The movie was a bit slow. It is a biopic about the toughness of the world and how life sucks. Not uplifting. /TD>	Charlize Thoern, Christina Ricci, written and directed by Patty Jenkins	2.5
Somethings Gotta Give Site	A Mom falls in love with her daughter's older boyfriend.	Well done and very funny romance featuring an Oscar calibre performance from Diane Keaton. Entertaining. A bit too contrived to be meaningful.	Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves; written and directed by Nancy Meyers	3.0
X-Men United Site	Mutants unite to fight a common threat.	Interesting. Too many characters. Not enough backstory. Good for fans only.	Patrick Stewart, others	2.0
Winged Migration	Documentary about birds	Remarkable pictures. Repetitive	Geese	1.5
House of Sand and Fog Site	A woman mistakenly loses her house to the county who resells it to hard-working exiled Colonel from Iran. The woman wants the house back, and the Colonel wants it as well. A police officer begins an affair with the woman, and harasses the Colonel.	Gripping story that is well told. A sad story with no real villains, but reasonable people in difficult situations. The end is intensely sad. Hard to bear. Excellent performance by Ben Kingsley. Solid effort by Jennifer Connelly and the son Jonathan Adout. The movie is not as ambitious as some movies, and while excellent is not fun-to-watch.	Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Elda; screenwriter/director: Vadim Perelman	3.0+
Cold Mountain Site	A confederate couple is divided by the war. The movie is about how they spend the war on the line and on the homefront.	Great performances in a story with epic sweep, and that has global meaning. Really liked Zellweger. Fine direction. Better than Gone with the Wind.	Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, directed by Anthony Minghella	4.0
Hollywood Homicide Site	Two detectives try to solve a rap music murders as they sell real estate and teach yogi on the side.	It is tough to make a funny movie about murder. (Are dead rappers more OK than dead white people?) The farcical absurdity hits a crescendo at the end where the wonderful craziness begins to pay back the weak beginning.	Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, directed by Ang Lee	2.5
The Hulk Site	Mad scientist and his kid turn into monsters. The military tries to control the situation.	Well-crafted and well-told story, but little payoff in the end. The villain is too simple, and the Hulk is afterall a mindless monster.	Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, directed by Ang Lee	1.5-
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Site	A climatic battle sets the stage for the destruction of the Ring, and the return of an exiled King to his land.	Very dramatic and entertaining movie. Top performance from Elijah Wood. Excellent storytelling. Gollum had the best performance by a CG character. It is hard to say if there is a deeper meaning here or just a story of fighting and friendship. Wild emotional ride.	Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, directed by Peter Jackson	3.5
View from the Top Site	Small town girl becomes a stewardess for the glamour.	Dull movie without a lot of humor or drama	Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, directed by Bruno Baretto	1.5
Last Samurai Site	Americans are recruited to westernize the Emperor's army, and to quash rebellious samurai. An American Captain, Nathan Algren, is captured and spends the winter in the Samurai camp. He befriends them and fights with them against the Emperor.	This is a grand and very romaticized movie about old fashion culture & values being literally shot-up by modern society. The Japanese culture and characters are treated too solemnly to have real emotion. This contributes to the peaceful foreign feeling, but also cripples the emotional development of the film. Mostly fun-to-watch.	Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall, Koyuki directed/writer/producer by Edward Zwick	2.5-
Bad Santa Site	Two bandits pose as Santa and his elf to setup holiday heists.	Bawdy comedy about the holidays but mostly drinking and sex. Some parts are very funny, and the best are situation comedy bits about Christmas tradition. My wife, Jenny, thinks this is the funniest movie of the year. Even though the movie is funny, under the funniness is nihilistic existentialism, and after the movie I felt the world can't be as bleak as this. I wanted to see Elf again as an antidote.	Billy Bob Thorton, Tony Sox, Brett Kelly, Directed by Terry Zwigoff	2.5
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Site	The Captain and crew chase a larger French ship around South America.	An action adventure movie with some interesting details and subplots. The shipboard life & Gallapagos was interesting to me. Pretty pictures. No real meaning other than the glory of war.	Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany; directed by Peter Weir	3.0
Elf Site	Child raised with Santa's Elf rejoins his family in New York.	Some excellent scenes and performances with Will Ferrell, but still just a relentlessly happy kid's movie. I would have liked some emotional range in Buddy and a deeper message. Beginning and end are weak.	Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel Directed by Jon Favreau	2.0
Matrix Revolutions Site	Neo learns about the secrets of the machine world. While the machines wage the battle of armageddon at the gates of Zion.	Full of religious metaphor. The emotional wins over the rational. Fun, but characters and ideas are not engaging. Action is ok, but mass battles are too impersonal and therefore less dramatic. Final battle with Smith is like Superman. (a bad thing in this case)	Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lawerence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Directed by Wachowski Brothers	3.0
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Site	Bio of producer and TV personality Chuck Barris. Based on his book. Contains a plot line about being a secret agent.	Stylish and thoughtful movie. Interesting performances. Worthwhile but not fun. Hollow.	Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Directed by George Clooney	1.5
Before Sunrise (1995) Site	Young American meets are French girl and they spend a night talking in Vienna.	Outstanding dialog. Well done. Basically no plot though. Lots of different topics, no overall theme. I think it causes one to reflect on ones life and what is important.	Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy; Written and direced by Richard Linklater	2.5

2003	Plot	Review	Actors	Stars
Thirteen Site	Teen age girls experiment with drug, piercings and boys.	Interesting drama that has some good characters and performnces. Not actually realistic but dramatic and emotional. Well directed. Seems to be about recovery from drugs. It is not about growing up because the issues of shyness versus openness are never developed. Excellent direction. Good performance by Evan Rachel Woods.	Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Woods, Nikki Reed, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Written by Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed	2.5
28 Grams Site	A husband & two kids are killed by a hit-and-run driver. The husband's heart is transplanted. The heart recepient and the widow attempt to get revenge on the hit-and-run driver.	Good story with interesting characters, and uniformly good performances. The movies existential message is very cold. The film is thoughtful and emotional but not fun. It is good as what it is though, and a nice work in an intellectual sense. /TD>	Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, directed by Alejandro GonzalezInarritu	3.0
Monster Site	Based on a true story about a prostitute who befriends a younger girl and becomes a serial killer.	Top notch performance by Charlize Thoeren and nearly as good by Christina Ricci. The movie was a bit slow. It is a biopic about the toughness of the world and how life sucks. Not uplifting. /TD>	Charlize Thoern, Christina Ricci, written and directed by Patty Jenkins	2.5
Somethings Gotta Give Site	A Mom falls in love with her daughter's older boyfriend.	Well done and very funny romance featuring an Oscar calibre performance from Diane Keaton. Entertaining. A bit too contrived to be meaningful.	Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves; written and directed by Nancy Meyers	3.0
X-Men United Site	Mutants unite to fight a common threat.	Interesting. Too many characters. Not enough backstory. Good for fans only.	Patrick Stewart, others	2.0
Winged Migration	Documentary about birds	Remarkable pictures. Repetitive	Geese	1.5
House of Sand and Fog Site	A woman mistakenly loses her house to the county who resells it to hard-working exiled Colonel from Iran. The woman wants the house back, and the Colonel wants it as well. A police officer begins an affair with the woman, and harasses the Colonel.	Gripping story that is well told. A sad story with no real villains, but reasonable people in difficult situations. The end is intensely sad. Hard to bear. Excellent performance by Ben Kingsley. Solid effort by Jennifer Connelly and the son Jonathan Adout. The movie is not as ambitious as some movies, and while excellent is not fun-to-watch.	Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Elda; screenwriter/director: Vadim Perelman	3.0+
Cold Mountain Site	A confederate couple is divided by the war. The movie is about how they spend the war on the line and on the homefront.	Great performances in a story with epic sweep, and that has global meaning. Really liked Zellweger. Fine direction. Better than Gone with the Wind.	Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, directed by Anthony Minghella	4.0
Hollywood Homicide Site	Two detectives try to solve a rap music murders as they sell real estate and teach yogi on the side.	It is tough to make a funny movie about murder. (Are dead rappers more OK than dead white people?) The farcical absurdity hits a crescendo at the end where the wonderful craziness begins to pay back the weak beginning.	Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, directed by Ang Lee	2.5
The Hulk Site	Mad scientist and his kid turn into monsters. The military tries to control the situation.	Well-crafted and well-told story, but little payoff in the end. The villain is too simple, and the Hulk is afterall a mindless monster.	Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, directed by Ang Lee	1.5-
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Site	A climatic battle sets the stage for the destruction of the Ring, and the return of an exiled King to his land.	Very dramatic and entertaining movie. Top performance from Elijah Wood. Excellent storytelling. Gollum had the best performance by a CG character. It is hard to say if there is a deeper meaning here or just a story of fighting and friendship. Wild emotional ride.	Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, directed by Peter Jackson	3.5
View from the Top Site	Small town girl becomes a stewardess for the glamour.	Dull movie without a lot of humor or drama	Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, directed by Bruno Baretto	1.5
Last Samurai Site	Americans are recruited to westernize the Emperor's army, and to quash rebellious samurai. An American Captain, Nathan Algren, is captured and spends the winter in the Samurai camp. He befriends them and fights with them against the Emperor.	This is a grand and very romaticized movie about old fashion culture & values being literally shot-up by modern society. The Japanese culture and characters are treated too solemnly to have real emotion. This contributes to the peaceful foreign feeling, but also cripples the emotional development of the film. Mostly fun-to-watch.	Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall, Koyuki directed/writer/producer by Edward Zwick	2.5-
Bad Santa Site	Two bandits pose as Santa and his elf to setup holiday heists.	Bawdy comedy about the holidays but mostly drinking and sex. Some parts are very funny, and the best are situation comedy bits about Christmas tradition. My wife, Jenny, thinks this is the funniest movie of the year. Even though the movie is funny, under the funniness is nihilistic existentialism, and after the movie I felt the world can't be as bleak as this. I wanted to see Elf again as an antidote.	Billy Bob Thorton, Tony Sox, Brett Kelly, Directed by Terry Zwigoff	2.5
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Site	The Captain and crew chase a larger French ship around South America.	An action adventure movie with some interesting details and subplots. The shipboard life & Gallapagos was interesting to me. Pretty pictures. No real meaning other than the glory of war.	Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany; directed by Peter Weir	3.0
Elf Site	Child raised with Santa's Elf rejoins his family in New York.	Some excellent scenes and performances with Will Ferrell, but still just a relentlessly happy kid's movie. I would have liked some emotional range in Buddy and a deeper message. Beginning and end are weak.	Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel Directed by Jon Favreau	2.0
Matrix Revolutions Site	Neo learns about the secrets of the machine world. While the machines wage the battle of armageddon at the gates of Zion.	Full of religious metaphor. The emotional wins over the rational. Fun, but characters and ideas are not engaging. Action is ok, but mass battles are too impersonal and therefore less dramatic. Final battle with Smith is like Superman. (a bad thing in this case)	Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lawerence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Directed by Wachowski Brothers	3.0
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Site	Bio of producer and TV personality Chuck Barris. Based on his book. Contains a plot line about being a secret agent.	Stylish and thoughtful movie. Interesting performances. Worthwhile but not fun. Hollow.	Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Directed by George Clooney	1.5

Movie	Review	Actors	Stars
Mystic River Site	Interesting but complicated story about 3 men who grow up in a Boston neighborhood, and the murder of one of their daughters. Excellent characters, excellent performances, excellent cinematography, fun-to-watch. Best actor for Sean Penn & supporting actress for Marcia Gay Harden. The film may be just existential, but I think it is about people and their troubled inner selves -- how everyone has a painful dark side.	Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney Directed by Clint Eastwood	3.5
Lost in Translation Site	Engaging and sad moving about adult loneliness playing out in Tokyo as a May-December relationship. Nicely directed. I like the gradualness of their affair, and the complicated relationship with their spouses. Engaging, fun-to-watch. Performances could have been stronger.	Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Directed by Sofia Coppola	3.0
House of Rock Site	A funny and entertaining movie about a Rocker who pays the rent by substitute teaching at a prep school, and who teaches the kids to stick-it-to-the-man by playing rock music. Great intensity and sincerity by Jack Black who carries the movie. Good performances by many of the kids.	Jack Black, Joan Cusack Directed by Richard Linklater	2.5
Anything Else Site	Ironic slice-of-life comedy that pokes fun at American life. Very enertaining and still thoughtful. Great writing with a good performance by Ricci. Biggs does not really make the role his own. Danny DiVito is excellent. Jim Fallon is just a cameo./TD>	Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci, Directed by Wood Allen	3.0
Matchstick Men Site	Story about a con man with obsessive-complusive disorder and his new-found daughter. Mostly great movie but the Hollywood ending, while fun, makes the meaningful parts meaningless. I liked Nicholas Cage and Alison Lohman./TD>	Nicholas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Directed by Ridley Scott	2.0
Identity Site	Interesting, good characters, suspenseful. People stuck in a storm start getting killed one at a time. The ending could have been foreshadowed better./TD>	John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta	2.5
All the Real Girls Site	Sleepy, pretentious , predictable, wildly over-rated /TD>	Patricia Clarkson, Zippey Deschanel, Paul Schneider	1
Freaky Friday Site	Funniest movie this year. Great story about a mother and daughter who switch places. Outstanding performance by Lohan. Could have been deeper. Jody Foster & Shelly Long were in previous adaptations of the Mary Rodgers' novel. /TD>	Lindsey Lohan, Jamey Lee Curtis	2.5
XX/XY Site	Steamy character driven drama about relationships. Excellent dialogue. Good performance by Ruffalo. Would like to have had a more substantial ending. /TD>	Mark Ruffalo (From my hometown of Kenosha Wisconsin), Kathleen Robertson, Maya Strange	2.0
Pirates of the Caribbean Site	Cute fantasy movie with a pirates theme. It does not take itself too seriously and is fun. Not too deep. /TD>	Johnny Depp, Geiffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley	1.5
Quiet American Site	Drama about a May/December romance played out in 1950's Vietnam. Over-rated performance by Caine. Not about loneliness as much as lechery, laziness and moral failings. /TD>	Michael Caine, Do Thi Hai Yen, Brendan Frasier	2.0
The Life of David Gale Site	Excellent drama/mystery about capital punishment. Fine performance by Kevin Spacey. Great Screenplay. A well-told story with a message that is entertaining throughout./TD>	Kevin Spacey, Kate Winset, Alan Parket director; Charles Randolf writer	3.0
Phonebooth Site	Interesting drama about an guy trapped in a phonebooth by a psycho. Excellent acting by Colin Farell. Kind of one dimensional, but short. Creative and different. Gripping.	Colin Farrell	2.5
Seabiscuit Site	A movie about horses, underdogs, and class warfare in America. Nice pictures, dramatic, fun-to-watch. Nice performance from Jeff Bridges. Although a true story, a bit lite for an Oscar.	Jeff Bridges, Tobey McGuire	2.5
Maid in Manhattan Site	Enertaining comedy about class warfare in America set in a hotel. A maid gets romanic with a guest. Solid performance by Lopez; Better in the begining where it is more dramatic; ending is lite.	Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes	2.0
Whalerider Site	Entertaining and educational film about preserving a dying culture and feminism. Not too heavy handed. Some nice performances, but slow.	Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton	2.5
Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines Site	Enjoyable high-action thriller with enough camply irony to keep it light and fun. Not a thoughtful movie, simple characters and straight-forward plot. Great action sequences.	Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kristanna Loken, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes	2.0
Tears of the Sun Site	Unpleasant, melodrama. Very little to recommend it. Ambitious, but fails to connect emotionally or intellectually.	Bruce Willis, Monica Belluccci	1.5
The Italian Job Site	Well done. Well acted. Interesting and fun. Not too deep.	Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Michael Caine	2.5
Finding Nemo Site	Very cute, fun, light animated Advenure with some interesting character interactions. Top quality computer animation.	Directed by Andrew Stanton; Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres	2.5
Bruce Almighty Site	Funny with a message without being preachy. About as good as a farce can be. Well acted in a comedic way.	Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman	4.0
The Matrix Reloaded Site	Fun to watch with some interesting philosophical ideas. The best aspect is the complicated plot, and speculations about the nature of the world. Some fight scenes are over-done.	Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lawerence Fishburne	3.0

More Movies

Movie	Review	Actors	Stars
Solaris	Full of mind; Slow even sleepy; good performances	George Clooney	2.5
Die Another Day	Very fun, but mindless	Pierce Brosnan	2.5
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Most fun at the movies this year. Great to look at. Imaginative. Wished it would never end.		3.5
Star Trek Nemesis	Fun but a bit hollow. Too many insider jokes.	Patrick Stewart	2.0
Lord of the Rings, Two Towers	Intersting, beautiful. I liked the movie more the second time. The movie is an inadequate adaptation of the book, but a solid effort on its own terms. A different tone and feel from the book.	Elijah Wood	3.0
The Gangs of New York	Great Operatic; Interesting on dramatic and historical level. Fun-to-watch. I wished it would never end. All movies should be like this.	Leonaro DiCapro	3.5
Catch Me if You Can	Excellent; Great Performances, Great Production, Fun to Watch. Truth is stranger than fiction.	Tom Hanks; Leonardo DiCaprio	3.5
Minority Report	Enjoyable. Thought provoking, but not too deep. Dark. Stylish Better after hearing the Speilberg commentary on the CD.	Tom Cruise	3.0
Bowling for Columbine	Novel. Worthwhile, thoughful and interesting. How much one likes it depends on ones politics and how populist one is. I liked it.	Michael Moore	3
About Schmidt	Over rated. Depressing movie about the meaninglessness of life. Writing was good. Nicholson's performance was overrated - no Oscar for Jack.	Jack Nicholson	1.5
Adaptation	Witty, clever, fun with a surreal twist at the end. An Oscar for Cage	Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep	3.5
Chicago	A few excellent song & dance routines. Great art direction. Fun. Not a very thoughtful film.	Renee Zellwegger, Kathrine Zeta Jones	2.5
Simone	Good movie about a character that I could relate to. Interesting satire about America and Hollywood.	Dustin Hoffman	3
The Hours	Well crafted dark and thoughtful film. Its about death, depression, existentialism and the meaninglessness of life. Well directed, well acted. To me it lacked the spark to make it a great movie.	Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Juliette Moore	2.5
Fast Runner site	Featured reconstructions of pre-Columbian life in Northern Canada. Very interesting on that level. The plot keeps your attention enough, but I never knew if the wierd things that happened were normal for that culture or if these characters were abnormal. This weaken the movie. That is, the good guy/villian/spirit world thing detracts from the travelogue value while not adding enough drama.	Unknowns	2
The Pianist site	I got emotionally worn out by reinactments of the holocaust. Some may think that there is something therapeutic or meritorious in viewing this. I don't. I think we can remember without the manipulative melodrama. Saved by the piano concert at the end with powerful, chaotic, angry music. Overall a very unpleasant experience - almost walked out (and not because I am a Nazi sympathizer).	Adrian Brody, Roman Polanski-director	2.0
Sweet Home Alabama site	Predictable but mildly enjoyable. Why don't city guys ever get the girl? The rich New Yorker was far too nice to be dumped like that.	Reese Witherspoon	2.0
Barbershop Site	Interesting not particularly engaging, but worthwhile	Ice Cube	2
We were Soldiers Site	Slow but worthwhile.	Mel Gibson	2.5
White Oleander Site	One of the best movies of the year. Great Performance by Michelle Pfeiffer. Powerful and fascinating.	Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Lohman, Renee Zellwegger	3.5
Spirited Away Site	Excellent animated fantasy. Very imaginative and engaging. Fun.	directed by Hayao Miyazaki	3.5
Holes Site	Overrated adulescent drama. Like an afterschool special. Cute premise overwhelmed with preachy moralism.	Sigourney Weaver, Shia LaBeouf	1.5
The Matrix Reloaded Site	Fun to watch with some interesting philosophical ideas. The best aspect is the complicated plot, and speculations about the nature of the world. Some fight scenes are over-done.	Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne	3.5
Two Weeks Notice Site	Recommended. Light and fluffy romantic comedy. Predictable, but enjoyable, and what is wrong with that?	Hugh Grant, Sondra Bullock	2
Drumline Site	Light drama about marching bands. Weak and unbelievable characters. Different.	Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana	2.5
Far From Heaven Site	Fable about societal roles and prejudice set in a cartoonlike 1950's neighborhood. Nice performance by Moore. Good art direction. I found the 50's style too foreign and stylized to work as a satire, since sometimes it seemed too real -- like a documentary of 50's life.	Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert	2.5
Finding Nemo Site	Very cute, fun, light animated Advenure with some interesting character interactions. Top quality computer animation.	Directed by Andrew Stanton; Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres	3.0
Heat	1995 Many deep characters and strong performances. Interesting & well developed plot. No message however, just a mano y mano pic.	Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kimer0	3.5