0712 December 2007

Just saw this on the big screen after watching it on video a hundred times. Watching it as an adult, you see all the subtext about growing up and accepting responsibilities... But don't leave your childhood behind!

Remarkable. My mouth hung open for most of the movie. Really inspired choreography that often seems accidental, not stagey. Fun to see the Beatles songs are put into a new context, and I ended up hearing the lyrics in a way I hadn't before.

Another triumphant bit of storytelling from Section Eight. When Soderbergh and Clooney are on a project, you can trust it will be great.

I wasn't sure I'd like this, given that Royal Tenenbaums was just too quirky for me, but Darjeeling is often laugh out loud funny. There's an act of heroism that changes the tone of the movie halfway through, and it works. Although the characters had been silly and narcissistic, they managed to earn my respect. It was somewhat disturbing to see Owen Wilson play a damaged character, given his recent personal problems.

Weird seeing a Poepicture without Vincent Price. Not bad, but not the best. I actually felt some "buried alive" tension when Ray Milland discovered a cat had been accidentally trapped in the walls of his house.

I get frustrated when people dismiss The Simpsons Movie as an extended episode. That said, this direct to video movie feels like an overlong TV episode. It's fun to see some throwbacks to jokes in past shows, but the Spam jokes aren't funny. The confusing nature of time travel plots has been satirized before in Futurama, but here it's just confusing.

It's painful watch creative people suffer, even if they're unaware of their problems. Daniel Johnston is not just disturbed, he can be a danger to others, so it's easy to see why he had to be institutionalized a few times. One cool aspect of this film is the use of Johnston's old audio "letters", which serve as a window into his illness.

Internet sensation Scott Foy was so enthusiastic about how bad this movie was, I just had to see it. He's right, it's bad. The effects are actually pretty good, which makes it all the more sad that the plot is so nonsensical. The filmmakers really wanted a cross between Godzilla and Lord of the Rings, but without strong characters, the result is just boring. A good comedy writer could have pushed the script a little and it would have been a wonderful genre parody. There's great fodder here for a fun MST3K style video night, so it's worth a rental.

Kudos for bringing this content to the masses. It doesn't break new cinematic ground, as it is mostly Gore's lecture, but worth seeing.

Wong Kar-Wai's segment was suitably somber and opaque, right up there with his feature films. Soderbergh's piece is a laugh-fest between neurotic Robert Downey Jr. and distracted psychiatrist Alan Arkin. Antonioni's segment was disappointing, though. Not particularly deep, although the eye-candy was nice.

There's a 5 minute section where the last 50 years of U.S. Middle East policy is summed up perfectly and succinctly. Worth watching just for that.

Tragedy like they used to write in ancient Greece! Hard to watch, but totally worth it. I liked the recurring shots and phrases, and I look forward to noticing more subtleties the next time through.

A fun zombie romp, but not as deep as you'd expect from a Romero film. Looking forward to Diary of the Dead, though.

Not as great as I'd hoped. Perhaps I've seen too many con-artist movies, but I predicted every twist in this one. What really stands out is Mamet's great dialogue. These guys talk their own language, and Mamet trusts the audience to keep up. Oh, and DeVito? Not menacing, unfortunately.

For all those who don't like the dead-eye look of Poloar Express and Beowulf, this is a movie that proves motion capture can work well. Of course, for Monster House, the capture data was applied to exaggerated, cartoony characters, and maybe that's the secret. What really stands out from a filmmaking standpoint is the organic nature of the camera moves. You feel like there was a real person holding a real camera in this animated world! Funny, weird and beautifully done.

The story spotlights a part of U.S. foreign policy I knew practically nothing about, and it made me feel queasy knowing that pouring funds into a Middle East conflict in the 1980s would still have consequences today. A well done film, but I could never really forget the star power of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Not that they're bad actors, just that they didn't exactly disappear into their roles. The style is fairly medium -- not flashy, except for the helicopter attack montages.

I hadn't watched this start to finish in a while, but did this year in preparation for the George Bailey 5K. The story does take its time getting up to speed, but it's not as slow as I remember. Jimmy Stewart's acting and Capra's direction really do make the movie work. Of course, the last half hour contains some of the most heart-wrenching melodrama ever put to film. Terrific.

I marvel at the fact that a movie this weird even got made. It doesn't take place in the real world, and I love that. Instead, it's a fable -- something you see more often in print than in film.

Pretty bleak, even compared to most BSG episodes. Good to see more Michelle Forbes and Katee Sackhoff again. The actor playing young Husker was good, considering he looked like both the elder and younger Adama characters. I hope they use him again in future flashbacks. I like the incorporation of the classic BSG Cylon robots and ships, too.

Manages to offer new mysteries without taking away from the first film. Not as surprising, but a thousand times better than The Ring 2. Most of the scare effects work, although some of the digital work is distracting. My favorite creep moment has to be in the photographer's darkroom. Ultimately, anytime we see the Takako Fuji as the main ghost, she's terrific. The Caucasian ghosts? Not as effective.

Typical of most Japanese fantasy, the viewer is thrown into a strange world and expected to catch up. There's a lot of time wasted before the plot really gets going, and yet there could have been more exposition to explain what the Yokai really are. Perhaps this isn't necessary for a Japanese audience, but the legendary spirits of Japan are not given much backstory. Still, I got a thrill from seeing the two or three I remembered from the pages of Usagi Yojimbo. Anyway, the plot concerns a young boy who must save the world from an unfortunately bland menace. Along the way he meets strange and beautiful Yokai and teams up to fight wicked machines. A great blend of make-ups, special effects, and computer graphics. Reminiscent of Labyrinth and The Never-ending Story.

A better than average "secret movie." It had a few jump scares, but was more about building dread in a Japanese style (although it takes place in Wales). I liked the use of religious ideas and symbols, plus anytime you have a character making an Orphic trip to the afterlife, that's worth watching.

I just saw this edited for VH1 (when was the last time you called someone an "airhole"?), and it made me want to buy the DVD. Not only an entertaining story, but the structure and the editing are better than I remember. The character ticks are spot on, and I appreciated the relationship woes in a whole new way this time.

I just saw this edited for VH1, and it made me want to buy the DVD. Not only an entertaining story, but the structure and the editing are better than I remember. The character ticks are spot on, and I appreciated the relationship woes in a whole new way this time.

Best movie of the year? It's this or The Prestige for me.