Jon Snow (fb542207905)

Reign of Fire PG-13

Great first half, generic almost boring second half. We are introduced to an interesting cast of characters and an intriguing future world, we are shown how dragons are taken down . . . then the second half of the movie makes everything else pretty much irrelevant and becomes a typical action flick focusing in three characters. I liked it better as an ensemble.

Great CGI --- the dragons look awesome. And the unlikely pairing of Christian Bale with Matthew McConaughey works better than you'd expect. The plot walks the thin line between absolutely preposterous and just-good-enough-to-make-it-through-ninety-minutes-as-long-as-it's-fun. So, of course, as soon as the movie starts failing, you start seeing plotholes and errors everywhere. Such a shame.

By the way, I can only imagine how many Europeans threw a fit that the movie has the Americans showing up to "save the day". I can see people walking out of the movie shortly after McConaughey and his commandos are introduced. Pity, because if they'd stayed a while longer they would've seen them mess things up magnificently.

Living in Oblivion R

This is the kind of movie that usually pisses me off -- making a movie about filmmakers and filmmaking is sort of like taking the easy way out, and most of the time they're nowhere near as clever as they think they are. Or maybe that's just if you happen to be a filmmaker.

Luckily, "Living in Oblivion" is actually clever enough that even when it goes for the obvious jokes, it doesn't get on your nerves. And it can be pretty damn funny. The whole cast is great, but Peter Dinklage is the one that steals the movie as a dwarf who isn't entirely comfortable with his role in the project. His speech towards the end is the highest point of the story.

Good stuff. I'll check out Tom DiCillo's other movies.

Annie Hall PG

The best romantic comedy ever. This is the standard against which I judge any other romcoms. It's so witty, so inventive, and so insightful when it comes to relationships, it's enough to make you a Woody Allen fan forever.

Bullets Over Broadway PG

What "Annie Hall" did for relationships, "Bullets over Broadway" does for artists. Once again, Woody Allen at the top of his game, even if this time he's channeled through John Cusack (who does a great job of playing a Woody-like character).