Movies I Watched In 2006

This movie was absolutely delightful. Two characters who felt very real even in the outrageousness of their neuroses. An ending that appealed to my cynical side with a middle that appealed to my sentimental side. Noteworthy lines and moments all the way through. I'm not sure how well it would stand up to a second or third viewing, but I really very much liked it the first time around. I'm really surprised it isn't rated higher than it is on here.

I can't decide whether I really really liked this movie or only really liked it. Heh. I really hadn't any idea what to expect as I sat down to watch it. Halfway through I was thinking this was one of the most interesting movies I'd ever seen. There were many moments of sheer brilliance that made me laugh out loud. And then . . . I don't know. It felt like it fizzled. Maybe I'm missing the point (I do that a lot). I'm going to go ahead and give it four and a half stars though, because two thirds of it was SO SO SO good. Definitely a good movie to see.

Edit: Okay, just got done reading some reviews of the movie that explain what this was trying to do. It definitely makes sense now, and, although I won't give away the ending, I give them definite kudos for trying that... even if it didn't particularly work for me. *grin* I may have to just have my dad watch it so I can re-watch it and see if, knowing what point it's making, it makes more sense to me. If so, I'll update this review once again.

This. Movie. Is. Wonderful. From the opening shots to the closing shots, it was fascinating and beautiful and touching and completely captured my attention. This is one of the best performances I've ever seen from Robert De Niro (of course the last thing I saw him in was Hide and Seek, which, you know, WASN'T his best role). Not overly sappy. Not overly cynical. Just from beginning to end, it's a beautifully crafted movie. I'd definitely recommend it.

If there's one thing Richard Linklater can do, it's write dialogue. It was evident in Waking Life and it's evident here. There's not very much plot in Before Sunrise. Basically, two strangers meet on a train and decide to spend the rest of their day/night together. The majority of the movie is spent just listening to their conversations with each other. They're not particularly realistic - these people are witty even when their awkward, and always ready with a profound anecdote that applies to the situation. But even without that realism, the conversations are still FASCINATING. In the first ten minutes, I was hooked, and I stayed interested for the rest of the movie.

I'm never a big fan of the "love me tonight, for tomorrow we part" stories... However, this one redeemed itself in a few ways that I'm not going to mention now because I suppose they might be construed as spoilers. And because it redeemed itself and it stayed so beautifully interesting all the way through, it gets rated quite high.

There are very few musicals done as slickly or as magically as this. Yes, I've decided to use the word "magical" to describe this movie, despite the dismal setting and morbid plot. But there just are very few other words for it. Every musical number captured my attention, despite the fact that I am not crazy about the show in general. THIS is how movie musicals should be made. Take a look, people working on Hairspray. Don't let the movie musical follow down the path of The Producers or Phantom of the Opera as sub-par representations of good shows. The movie musical does NOT have to be dead, not with gems like this just waiting to be made.

I'm a big fan of Nick Hornby's writing, and had already read the High Fidelity book. I was unsure as to how the movie would be - would it keep the same rambling, blog-like conversations about music? Would it transfer as a story from Britan to America? Would it try to Hollywoodize the whole thing instead of keeping it the charming meandering story it was? The answers, by the way, are yes, yes, and no. This was the PERFECT movie adaptation - a great adaptation of a great book. What struck me is that almost every single character was instantly the way I'd imagined them. Those actors just NAILED their character. (The one exception for me was Ian.) This is not your typical romantic comedy. It's slow, it's laidback, it's meandering, it's philosophical, and it's completely charming. There aren't many more good things I can say about this movie. I can't figure out ways to put them all into words. Great stuff.

This was only on my "moderately want to see" list, but I'm extremely glad I finally got to see it. I really had no idea what to expect. Comedy? Action? Thriller? A little bit of all of that. While the thriller and action parts of the movie weren't my favorites, the portions of the movie going for comedy were hilarious. The characters' dialogue was beautifully witty, and a few of the out-of-the-blue unusual moments had me laughing out loud, something I don't usually do during movies. Come to think of it, I laughed out loud quite a lot during this movie. Truly funny, and well worth watching. No doubt goes on my all-time favorites list.

Our community college put this on as a play a year or so ago, but I missed it. I wish now I'd been able to see it, because I absolutely loved this movie. When spoofs are done well, I think they can be brilliant, and this one was. It's a spoof of every sci-fi B-movie in existence, and it so perfectly captures what makes them so bad. Several times while watching this, we had to pause the movie because we were laughing so hard we couldn't hear what was going on. I most definitely recommend it.

At first I just wanted to see this movie because Jake Gyllenhaal was in it. Then I wanted to see it because it was based on a play. And then as I began watcing, I wanted to see it because it was a compelling story. It's about a woman who's recently turned twenty-seven and has spent most of her life caring for her father, who was once a brilliant mathematician but for the past several years has been sliding into insanity. When he dies, she and a former student of her father's (played by Jake!) begin looking through her father's papers. The dialogue in this is gorgeous. It's witty and clever, and yet the characters were entirely believable. I particularly liked Gwyneth Paltrow's protagonist, who is very vulnerable and introverted and clearly slightly messed up, but at the same time manages to have this dry wit. There's a heartbreaking scene toward the end of the film portraying the father during one of his bouts of madness. I actually cried during this part. Overall, one of the best movies I have seen so far this year.

Wow, wow, wow. This was listed as one of the top five scariest movies according to the American Film Institution, and while it wasn't edge-of-your-seat scary, it certainly was a CREEPY movie! Anthony Hopkins did a superb job playing Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster was very interesting in her role as well. One of the things that creeped me out the most was the general sense of inevitability. You just KNEW Lecter was going to escape. Obviously, this movie is not gonig to be for the squeamish. There are a lot of "Oh, yuck!" moments in the film. But did I like it? You bet.

Generally documentaries don't interest me. Like, at all. But some of the reviews I'd read of this one made it sound interesting so I went ahead and picked it up. I was not disappointed. It was amazingly fascinating. It followed eight different children and their families as the kids competed in what was apparently the 1999 National Spelling Bee. Everyone in my family ended up picking a kid to root for (although none of our favorites won, sadly). The kids weren't dumbed down at all or made to seem either way cutesy or way mature or way brainy. They just were who they were. I'd definitely recommend this movie!

Let me start off by saying I'm a huge fan of Waiting For Guffman, and then someone suggested this to me, so I finally got a chance to see it. I was NOT disappointed. I was a little worried in the first fifteen minutes ago that it wasn't going to live up to expectations, but after about half an hour I was starting to laugh out loud, and by the end I was convinced this movie was wonderful. I plan to watch it again with my family, which I'm looking forward to. There were so many wonderful throwaway lines that I couldn't possibly have found them all the first time. Although with Guffman I had the theater connection to keep me interested, this managed to hold my attention all by itself. Fantastic.

Hooray, horray for Wallace and Gromit! I was a major fan of the original cartoons, and so was eagerly awaiting the release of this. Then I started hearing negative things about it and I began to be a little bit wary. What if mainstreamness had murdered my beloved 'toons? When it came out on video, my mom rented it for us, and I sat down to watch it . . . and absolutely loved it. What a fantastic movie! Totally in the spirit of the originals. Full of silly sight gags, horrible puns, nifty inventions, and some talented voice actors. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It's stupendous. I can't wait to see the next movie created by these guys!

There's something about the story of friends falling in love that strikes a chord for me and a lot of other people. Anna has been recommending this movie to me for a long time, so I decided I should finally see it, and my gosh, I loved it. While watching the journey these two took toward their obvious ultimate goal of finding true love together, I squealed and laughed and exclaimed, "That is SWEET!" There were so many moments that made me go "awww" - their watching Casablanca on TV together, and their attempt to set each other up with friends, just to name two. Definitely one of the best feel-good chick flicks.

I don't traditionally like pop culture comedies, or political comedies, so I pretty much got this with my fingers crossed hoping it'd be entertaining. Turns out, it was. Even the political stuff didn't bug me, and the American Idol spoofing was dead-on and absolutely hilarious. This flick hit all the right notes for me while managing to be the sort of film I never enjoy seeing. Now that's pretty impressive. Much of that is due to the nearly-always-present charm of Hugh Grant, but not all of it. Most of the other actors do a wonderful job as well. Even Mandy Moore is much funnier and more interesting than usual, creating a character I could actually believe in this time around. Good stuff.

Now I can finally take it off my "want to see it" list and put it on my "finally saw it" list. This movie was recommended to me by both Anna and Sarah L, so I figured there had to be something to it. There definitely was. This movie kept me solidly entertained the whole way through, and there were even a few moments where I laughed out loud. But besides just being amusing, it was also making a bit of a point. Sometimes movies that make a point end up sounding pretentious and preachy, but this was... surprisingly heart-warming. Definitely quite a good movie.

This came as a very refreshing contrast to Bee Season, which also claimed to be about a girl and a spelling bee, but was just bizarre. This movie was probably one of the best family films I've seen this year. It was incredibly well-done, despite having so many of the cliches (the coach's tragic past, the unsupportive mother, etc.). These really didn't get in the way of the story at all, though, somehow. The kids were believably intelligent but also believably middle school. I really got caught up in the story and the characters and despite it not having anything that made me go "OH MY GOSH! BEST MOVIE MOMENT EVER!" it was one of the most solidly interesting movies of the year.

This was an absolutely fascinating movie. Although I don't particularly like classical music, I do like music in general, and I'm fascinated by stories about musicians. Seeing people get this wrapped up in music just intrigues me. Although it's definitely not a completely accurate portrayal of the story of Salieri and Mozart, it's well worth seeing. It runs quite long - 160 minutes - but I stayed interested nearly every minute. Both the lead actors played their parts superbly. I just definitely, definitely think this was a well done movie.

This wasn't hugely high on my list of "movies to see," but within about ten minutes of putting it on I realized it was going to be a movie I really, really enjoyed. It's difficult to find a word that accurately describes the feel of this movie, but I think the closest is "fanciful." Even when looking at the difficulties in this man's life - his rocky marriage, his disillusionment, his unusual family relationships - there's still something magical and free that jumped out at me every time he took the stage. The sequence early on in the movie where Bobby decides to go to New York to try and make it big is one of the loveliest moments I've seen in a movie in a long time. Something about it just struck home for me... I definitely got chills.

I must also say Kevin Spacey was absolutely superb in this role. Sometimes when actors take on roles as singers they don't come across as at all natural. That was not the case here.

This is definitely an artist's movie, or a movie for people who like biographies.

It's getting harder and harder to review movies. It's difficult to find enough to say about movies you LIKE, and I keep seeing good movies. Meh. But, anyway, on to actual discussion of this. This movie was fascinating. Although usually I'm bored by Ben Affleck, he did quite a good job with his character. Samuel L. Jackson was great as always.

Probably the most interesting aspect of the movie was its delving into moral issues without attempting to get preachy at all. Although this movie was advertised as a thriller, it was clearly more drama than action/thriller, as the focus was on the characters, not the tension or the threats. And the characters were marvelous... it was fascinating watching the contrasts and similiarities between them as they tried to exact their revenge on each other, or push each other over the edge.

If you're expecting a high speed action thriller with lots of car chases and gun fights, this isn't what you're looking for. But if you want something to mull over for awhile, this movie will do just fine.

What a fascinating movie. This movie took all these different stories about racism and told them in a fresh way, avoiding most of the cliches. That's pretty impressive. I'm not sure I'd call it the best picture of 2005, but it was certainly well done. My main argument with it, though, was that many of the stories felt incomplete. The Sandra Bullock story, for example, left me wanting more of it to be told, as did the story of the Asian couple. When compared to my favorite movie, Love Actually, which also consisted of several intertwining stories, that one did a much better job of telling the stories satisfactorily. Although many of the stories in Crash were satisfactory, there were too many that left me going, "Wait- what? What about them?"

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. I was worried it would mostly spend all its time making its case against the death penalty, but it didn't. It felt very real and very fairly balanced. The side plot with the parents was fascinating. Its take on Christianity was also very refreshing - very friendly, even if it was slightly mixed up in some areas. Overall, it was a really fascinating and very well-done film. VERY well-done.

Very few dramas can hook me at the beginning of the movie and keep me interested all the way to the end. Before Sunrise was one. Ordinary People was another. And this is a third. I found myself completely absorbed in the characters and the story in about ten minutes. However, while I can pinpoint exactly *what* kept me interested in the first two dramas I mentioned (dialogue and plot, respectively), I can't quite pinpoint just one thing that kept me more interested. This movie works together so smoothly... the characters, the dialogue, the plot... everything just flows together to create a movie that I really enjoyed quite a lot. (Although time progessed a lot faster in the movie than I thought it was progressing. Heh. All of a sudden it's 15 years later and I was like, "What? I thought only like a year and a half had gone by!")

Wow. What a weeeeeird movie. I'd never actually seen the play, but when I found the movie at the video store, I decided to rent it to see what it was like. I haven't any idea how close this is to the actual show, but it was definitely an interesting watch. It actually reminded me quite a bit of Into the Woods, with its fairly normal opening act, and then a second act that shakes everything up in a way you were totally not expecting. At the end this got very surreal, and while my mom and sister were mostly just creeped out by it, I LOVED it! Simply fascinating stuff. I want to see the show now. Heh.

Musical Theater Person Sighting: That's Joel Grey as Luisa's dad and Joey McIntyre as Matt. Interesting to note that both have appeared in the show Wicked, although not at the same time.

What a fascinating film. Not just because of the plot, not just because of any social commentary in there, but because of the thought-provoking dialogue and the actual filmmaking (something I almost NEVER notice). It was one of the most intriguing movies I've ever seen, as well as, in many ways, one of the most disturbing - there were so many moments where I sat there thinking, "That is so wrong. That is so WRONG." But the movie kept being interesting, and I kept getting caught up in the dialogue, and watching the characters interact, and laughing, and gasping, and digesting ideas. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I did, most of the time. Will I ever watch it again? Probably not. Will I recommend it? Eh... that very much depends. Not everyone will like it. But those who do, will probably love it.

No synopsis for this movie? How odd. Anyway, it's definitely worth seeing. My dad recommended it to me so I sat down and watched it and while it wasn't my favorite movie of all time, it actually did make me laugh out loud several times, which is pretty impressive for a comedy, since I usually don't laugh out loud during films. Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline are both very, very funny in their roles. John Cleese and Michael Palin play more subdued characters but do a wonderful job. Overall, a movie I'd definitely recommend.

I totally did not expect to like this movie. I mean, sappy relationship movies and I don't exactly mix. But I guess that's why I didn't mind this - it WASN'T sappy! It didn't try to garner sympathy for the main character unfairly. By the time tragedy happened, I genuinely cared about him as a character. The quirkiness of the humor had me, at times, laughing out loud. It reminded me a lot of Big Fish, actually, another movie I absolutely loved. My family was surprised when I expressed my fondness for that movie, and also when I said similar things about this movie. I am a little bit, too. Definitely a surprise - a pleasant surprise, though.

Teehee. Black comedies are often great fun, and this ranks right up there with Grosse Pointe Blank as one of the best. Not only was it amusing, it also had an action-heavy-enough plot to keep my brother entertained throughout. No real laugh-out-loud moments, but it managed to keep me smiling most of the way through it. Although I wouldn't ever buy it, I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the genre in general.

Teehee. Goofified! Nobody makes movies like this anymore (that are GOOD). So over-the-top and yet so funny. All of the key actors did a superb job in their roles. Jack Lemmon, especially, was a hilarious villain, not to mention his second role as the perpetually drunk crown prinec. My family and I didn't laugh out loud throughout the movie, but it did manage to keep us smiling. Quite fun.

This movie was rather bizarre, but thoroughly enjoyable. At first I thought it was a serious drama, but this isn't the case at all, and once I realized that, I was able to sit back and enjoy the silliness of the whole thing. Dustin Hoffman is truly wonderful in this movie, creating a very distinct and memorable character. I'm not sure I was overly enthralled with the VERY sudden melodramatic ending. The movie had slowly gotten more serious over the past 20 minutes, and then suddenly it went zanier than it ever had before. It felt slightly inconsistent with the rest of the film. Other than that, though, a truly charming, very amusing film that I would definitely recommend.

I heard from a few people who really didn't like this movie, but I disagree with them quite a bit. I think it was one of the most fun animated movies I've seen that didn't come from Disney. Certainly better than, say, Shark Tale or Robots. It felt like there were two halves to the movie, though... the first half was the most fun, as the four characters all told their individual stories. The second half, where everything got wrapped up and the bad guy got what he deserved, was less enjoyable but still had some good moments. All in all, this film made me smile a lot. Definitely recommended.

Once you get used to Mamet's slightly odd, deliberately wooden dialogue, there's a wonderful movie here. Fascinating characters played beautifully by the lead actors, with a very satisfying, if not exactly uplifting, ending. This was one of those movies that just keeps me interested all the way through, even though it's certainly not nonstop action. Interesting character flick.

Anna had been recommending this to me for ages, and I finally got a chance to see it on TV. It worked surprisingly well. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but his character was likeable here despite having some major flaws. Renee Zellweger is nearly always likeable. The kid was amazingly cute for being not all that realistic. The spiel at the end was so sappy and so silly romantic drama... but somehow it worked. All the elements came together to make rather a very good movie. Not sure I'd purchase it, but I'd definitely recommend it to others. (And as an aside, am I getting less cynical or am I just seeing better romantic movies these days? Hmm.)

I have to admit, out of all the "known to be annoying" comic actors, I like Jim Carrey the best (and Adam Sandler the least, but that's beside the point). He's good at what he does, even when he's not my style, and occasionally makes me giggle at things I wouldn't find funny if anyone else did them. He also has a good-natured air about him that most other comic actors lack. He actually has the ability to come off as a genuinely nice guy. (Back to Adam Sandler - even when he plays a supposedly nice people, I still want to shoot him.)

And therefore, this was not at all a bad movie. The premise is one of those that can, in the right hands, be hilarious, and in the wrong ones, horrendous. The screenwriters handle it just perfectly, with outrageous nonsense in nice proportion with the subtle humor and the sentimental plotline.

In conclusion... I liked this movie much more than I thought I was going to. I actually did laugh out loud a few times. That's pretty good.

Normally, I wouldn't have watched this movie. It had too many opportunities for things to be silly and sappy, and I'm not a Hayden Christensen fan. But Anna recommended it to me, which meant I was either going to love it or hate it. :-) I leaned much closer to the "love" side. Although I wouldn't rave about it, I thought it was a very interesting movie. The few moments that were mildly silly were saved by the actors' performances. Both Kevin Kline and Hayden Christensen are superb in this, and although the drama was perhaps packed in a little too thickly at times, it still managed to come together into a very satisfying movie at the end. Another thumbs up for Anna's recommendations!

In the first ten minutes of this movie, I found myself increasingly worried that I had selected The Wrong Movie for myself. However, as the story progressed and the characters evolved, it turned into a very charming little movie. A bit over-the-top at times, but nonetheless totally feel good and fluffy without being annoying. I'm quite, quite satisfied with the ending.

This movie was fascinating. I didn't actually think I'd enjoy it as much as I did, but the dialogue is beautifully crafted. It didn't surprise me to learn that it was based on a play. It all centers around the dialogue. It was fascinating, given that it's so highly focused on moral values and private consciences as well, something that's not really given a lot of praise in the entertainment industry these days. Even in places where I disagreed with Sir Thomas's beliefs, I had to admire the steadfastness with which he held to those beliefs. Pressure from the government couldn't shake him from what he believed to be right. Quite an interesting story... I'd love to see it on the stage some day.