| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - PG |
A mostly loyal but still flawed adaptation of the first of C.S. Lewis's Narnia series. Obviously trying to piggyback on the success of the LotR films, it doesn't quite immerse the audience in Narnia the same way Jackson brought us into Middle Earth. The Christian allegory is still there, but it's perhaps even subtler than Lewis himself would've liked. The Pevensie sibilngs are all well-cast. Aslan is freaking huge. |
August 25, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Babe - G | Surprisingly intelligent and charming without being syrupy. It sounds weird, but Babe really does transcend the whole animal kiddie genre; one critic even rightfully crowned it "the Citizen Kane of talking pig pictures." Cromwell delivers a beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett. | August 25, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit - PG | Yes, it's one of the zaniest comedies ever. But it's easy to forget just how revolutionary and groundbreaking it is, both technically and narratively. It's a deconstructed (faux) history of animation; it's a camp noir detective story; it's a surreal blending of fantasy and reality. And in a massive licensing coup, Daffy and Donald (among others) get to share the same screen. | August 22, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Seabiscuit - PG-13 | Great feel-good Depression era Americana. The original book is ripe with detail and nuance, and it achieves better balance among the three men's (+ horse) stories; the movie compresses and takes a few liberties with the material. And, in trying to emulate the book's excellent narrative prose, the film sometimes relies on voiceover as a crutch. Still, with a cast like Bridges, Cooper, and Maguire, you can't go wrong. | August 22, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Running Man - R |
Loosely based on the Richard Bachman/Stephen King novel. It's cheesy, but good cheesy. In the Battle of the Future Governors, Arnold actually fights Jesse Ventura (kind of). Richard Dawson delivers a scathing parody of himself as the sadistic game show host. And some 20 years later, isn't it interesting how similar it is to the current TV lineup? |
August 20, 2008 | N/A | |||
| This Is Spinal Tap - R | This mockumentary goes to eleven. And hey, look, it's another Rob Reiner classic. | August 20, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Usual Suspects - R | Best crime movie of the 90s. This is the film that took the term "unreliable narrator" to new heights, made Kevin Spacey a star, and turned director Bryan Singer into THE go-to-guy for directing ensemble superhero fare. Phenomenal cast. | August 19, 2008 | N/A | |||
| A.I. Artificial Intelligence - PG-13 |
Spielberg nerfs some of the harsher elements of Kubrick's original concept for a weirdly compromised vision. Osment is heartbreakingly, disturbingly brilliant. Thematically, it's a darker spiritual sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the earlier film, humans overcame their reliance on their tools to evolve into the Starchild ubermensch. Here, humans themselves don't evolve to ubermensch, but their tools (the robots) do. Kubrick's final damning judgment of humanity still cuts through all Spielberg's saccharine. |
August 17, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Boiler Room - R | Well-cast, gripping look into the fast-talking world of investment brokerage scam firms. It gets a little uneven around the time Ribisi's protagonist starts to develop a conscience, and the whole subplot with his federal judge father seems contrived. Still, it establishes itself in the pedigree of Glengarry Glen Ross and Wall Street, with its characters literally quoting from those movies as though they were Monty Python films. | August 16, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Touch of Evil - PG-13 | August 12, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - PG-13 | August 12, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Step Brothers - R | August 12, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Shoot 'Em Up - R |
Shoot 'Em Up wastes no time in putting the gas pedal straight to the floor, pretty much keeping it there for the full hour and 20 minutes. It's got some of the most visually imaginative (if completely improbable) action sequences I've seen in a while, rivaling and even surpassing those of the great John Woo. Like another Clive Owen movie, Sin City, there's absolutely nothing morally redeeming about it. But hot damn, it's fun, and pretty to look at. Chow Yun-Fat, eat your heart out. This action movie knows exactly what it is, and doesn't bother too much with stringing together a plot between all of the action. Turn your brain off for this one. |
August 12, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Cool World - PG-13 |
Terrible. A friend once tried to hype this up as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit on crack." Unfortunately, animated crackheads--literally or figuratively--make for bad cinema. By far, Bakshi's worst work, and a movie that Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, and Gabriel Byrne would prefer never show up on their resumes. |
August 8, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - PG-13 | Great score, and fine performances from Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman. It's Costner who single-handedly ruins this movie with his half-ass British accent. | August 8, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Killer (Dip huet seung hung) - Unrated |
John Woo's best--one could argue that he's just been trying to remake The Killer for the rest of his career. As with all his movies, there's still melodrama, but it's easier to overlook with the overall quality of this production. The Killer boasts Woo's strongest story and most well-developed characters. But of course, it's the imaginative action pieces that really shine here. The Mexican standoff in the apartment skillfully mixes suspense and humor. And the final church showdown is Woo's signature scene. |
August 8, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Iron Man - PG-13 | August 4, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2) - PG-13 | August 4, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Lat sau san taam (Hard-Boiled) - R | As far as plot and themes go, it's not as well developed as Woo's other "heroic bloodshed" Hong Kong films, and it's needlessly melodramatic. But the individual shootouts are masterful: the opening teahouse scene, the warehouse confrontation, and the 2:42 long take in the hospital should be required viewing for any action lover. | August 3, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Batman Gotham Knight - Unrated |
Gotham Knight is to Batman as The Animatrix is to The Matrix. It's an interesting collection of six vignettes, and some are more successful than others. As in The Animatrix, the art is excellent in all of the episodes, but the quality of storytelling is less consistent. Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in several WB animated series since the 90s, takes up the bat cowl again here. Longtime Batman editor Denny O'Neil is on the commentary track, and he lends some unique insight to the history of The Dark Knight in different media. |
August 3, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Dark Crystal - PG | The beautifully realized fantasy world, Brian Froud's imaginative design, and the stunning puppetry by the Jim Henson workshop are all almost completely negated by one of the whiniest, most incompetent heroes in cinema history. (Yes, even moreso than either Anakin or Luke Skywalker.) | August 3, 2008 | N/A | |||
| M - Unrated |
Fritz Lang's first sound film is also arguably his finest masterpiece. Not content to deliver a mere thriller, he weaves in an unsettling sociological commentary on justice and mob mentality. Peter Lorre, in a role that would unfortunately have him typecast as a villain for the rest of his career, is exquisite as the serial child killer. |
August 2, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Hidalgo - PG-13 | Cross Lawrence of Arabia with Seabiscuit, throw in a few Native American hallucinations, and you've got a moderately enjoyable if utterly improbable (and overlong) adventure. | August 1, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Paper - R | Excellent ensemble movie, with solid performances all around. The newspaper office dynamic is perfect. | August 1, 2008 | N/A | |||
| What Lies Beneath - PG-13 | Mostly mediocre thriller. The bathtub scene, though, is a masterfully executed bit of suspense. | August 1, 2008 | N/A |
359 ratings
256 reviews
