Copied from INTPc, so if something doesn't make sense, blame them.



Knocked Up
Another comedy from the man who brought you Freaks & Geeks, and the 40 Year Old Virgin. I enjoyed this one, but it is not on the same level as his previous stuff. Man and woman meet, have drunken one night stand, woman ends up pregnant. This setup doesn't really work in the 21st century. There was hardly any mention of abortion for no recognizable reason I could tell. She just decides to keep the baby and the audience is supposed to accept this logic. Whatever. I didn't quite buy the chemistry between the two leads, a more realistic ending has them apart but committed to raising their kid. His stoner buds were a riot, and the inherent qualities of hotel chairs while tripping on shrooms was a funny scene.
Recommended (rental).

The Simpsons Movie
Not as funny as I hoped, but better than I thought it would be. Does that make sense? I wished for more laugh out loud moments, but there were times when the movie really brought back some of the pathos of the early seasons, where you could really care about these yellow-skinned, 4 fingered, cartoons. Marge's video message to Homer towards the end was one of those moments.
Nearly every character gets at least a glimpse, though I'd have preferred even more from Apu and Mr. Burns (stay through the credits, as Mr. Burns gets one of the funniest lines in the whole movie).
I've been a fan for years, since the Tracy Ulman show, and finally after two decades we get the movie. They did a great job.
Recommended.

Ratatouille
I had high hopes for this one, since it is helmed by Brad Bird who brought me two of my favorite animated movies ever (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles). Add another one to the list.
Poor Remy the rat is not your average rat. He is blessed with extraordinary taste and smell, and dreams of becoming a chef. Not easy for a rat. He meets a down and out young man, and together they try to make their dreams come true. An inspiring movie for kids and adults.
The animation is fantastic as well. The mouth watering food, the water effects, the scenes of Paris – magnificent!
If you haven't seen this yet, go do so now.
Highly Recommended.

Bourne Ultimatum
I've really enjoyed the previous two movies, and their impact can be felt in the style of last years Casino Royale. I've read on this board that the movie is a metaphor for the War on Terror, and it is true. In fact the entire series is a description of the flow of the war from 9-11 through Iraq; as stated by Matt Damon in an interview recently.
The first movie is paranoia (who did this to us?).
The second is remorse (we did what?).
The third is anger (who tricked us?).
At least, that is the path many American liberals have taken, many in the red states are still running crazed through the streets with Lola.
The jittery camera is back, and while I appreciate the attempt to make the audience feel like they are inside the action, one loses a sense of perspective about what is going on. Even in the most frantic fight, Bourne is always in control (I liked the one in the Tangier apartment). Give us a little distance please, if only to ease some of the vertigo.
I also appreciate the spectacular car chases and crashes on the streets of NYC. Most films don't bother anymore, they'd find an excuse to stage it in the middle of nowhere and CGI a lot of it.
Recommended.

Raging Bull
Finally got around to seeing this classic, it is one of my embarrassments in film knowledge. De Niro earned his Oscar as soon as I saw that belly hanging out of his shirt. Gained 60 pounds to portray Jake La Motta after he ended his boxing career (he is still alive BTW, I thought he was long dead). As horrible as La Motta could act, I was expecting worse after hearing about this movie for years. Not really a story about boxing, it is a story about jealousy and how it can destroy people. Roger Ebert noted it was a modern Othello, but La Motta didn't need an Iago, he did it to himself.
Highly Recommended.

2046
The final part of a loose trilogy from director Kar Wai Wong. I haven't seen the first part, but I looove the second one - In the Mood for Love.
Tony Leung reprises his role as Chow, becoming a cynical playboy after the events of the previous movie. The story is a bit fractured, telling the story of two rooms in a hotel, one occupied by Chow. He has many love affairs, focusing on three women. One woman, played by the Incandescently Beautiful Ziyi Zhang, stays in the hotel room next to him - 2046. This number is also features in the interwoven sci-fi story within a story written by Chow. Confused yet?
nonsequitur told me she didn't like this one, though we both love the previous movie. I disagree with her. I found this one quite affecting at times, even if it doesn't live up to In the Mood for Love. She also said Ziyi Zhang was naked, WHICH IS A LIE! She was quite sexy though.
See In the Mood for Love first (esp. if you love tragic-romantic character studies), but I did enjoy this one too.
Recommended.

Gwoemul (aka The Host)
I bumped this one to the top of my Netflix list after the disscussion above. One of the most successful South Korean movies ever, it combines family drama, horror, and comedy in the guise of a monster movie with an environmental message. The result, while interesting, never quite gelled for me. A Korean subordinate is ordered by his American supervisor to dump chemicals down the drain that flows into the Han River in Seoul. A few years later, a giant amphibious creature appears in the river and attacks people at a park in broad daylight (I particularly liked this scene) - shades of Godzilla. The monster is also found to harbor a deadly virus - shades of the SARS epidemic. The entire city goes on alert as one family tries to find a child carried off by the monster to its lair. There were a lot of things to like and enjoy about this film, I just thought it could be better.
Recommended.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
I think I am the last English speaking person on the planet to see this. Hilariously funny. Naked wrestling might be the high point of the movie, nut sacks in people's faces is always humorous. Some people hate this film, others think it is the greatest comedy ever. I lean towards the latter.
Highly recommended.

The Thin Man
Dammit, Hollywood, this is how you used to do it! Drinking, witty dialog, charming and likable characters, drinking, an interesting plot, drinking, just grand fun all around. Did I mention the drinking? Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Need to read that one. Watching the husband and wife team of Nick and Nora Charles solve a murder mystery while drinking an ocean of alcohol is pure entertainment. Even the cute dog was funny! Why don't they do it this way anymore?
Highly recommended.

Stranger Than Fiction
Will Ferrell is an IRS auditor living a mundane existence until he begins to hear someone (Emma Thompson) narrating his life in the third person. With the help of a literary professor (Dustin Hoffman) he tries to unravel what is happening to him, especially since the narrator states his death is imminent.
This movie reminded me of the meta-movies of Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich) but not quite equaling them in depth or strangeness. Some fairly funny scenes and Emma Thompson was great. A good choice for a rental.
Recommended.

Shoot 'Em Up
A badass Clive Owen? Monica Bellucci as a prostitute? Insane gun battles? Paul Giamatti hamming it up as the villian? Hilarious one liners? A ludicrous plot? A shoot out during a sex act? A shoot out in midair? A shoot out every 10 minutes? A gun movie with a massive body count having an anti-gun message? One of the best movies ever? Quite possibly.
One reviewer at imdb.com wrote: "The script was probably written by a 13 year old kid who plays a lot of video games, but that's why it's great."
Amen.
Now if we can just get John Woo to make these kind of movies again.
Highly Recommended.

The Maltese Falcon
Another classic I had not seen. Fantastic movie. Humphrey Bogart at his finest. A plot you really must pay attention to. Crackling dialogue. I could go on and on. Just see it already. One of the best Hollywood ever made. See The Big Sleep while you are at it.
Highly Highly Recommended.

Blades of Glory
It was okay, despite the fact I liked both Heder and Ferrell in their roles. Plus the wife/husband team of Poehler and Arnett. Amusing, but not funny enough. Perhaps it couldn't be as gleefully homophobic as a movie like this would have been 15-20 years ago.
Not recommended.

25th Hour (a Spike Lee joint)
The considerable is illuminated by the minute. Or something. Ostensibly a tale of a drug dealer's (Edward Norton) last day in NYC before he goes to prison. He spends time with his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson), two old friends (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper), and father (Brian Cox) while trying to figure out who set him up. Their relationships play against the background of a city still recovering from 9/11. That infuses the film with a much broader scope. Mourn the loss of a potential good life in one man, mourn the loss of thousands of lives. This is never more evident than the two meta-scenes bookend the tale: a rant against every group/race in the city (much like Do the Right Thing) and a father's imagination of his son fleeing the city to start a new life. Loathing and hope.

I took this picture back in May:

http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/WTCPath.JPG

Behind it should be two more buildings.

Highly recommended.

Eastern Promises
A midwife (Naomi Watts) helps deliver the child of a teenaged prostitute who dies in childbirth. Finding her diary written in Russian, she seeks out the family of the baby, leading her directly into contact with the Russian mafia and their enigmatic driver (Viggo Mortensen). Brutal, yes, but needed to deglamorize a genre that is too often made pretty for entertainment. And yes, ladies, you do see Viggo's biggo in a naked bathhouse fight. But gentlemen, you don't see Naomi's Watts.
Highly Recommended.

Havoc
Recorded this off IFC recently. Bored rich teens from the Pacific Palisades go and hang out with crack-dealing Latino gangbangers in East L.A. Surprisingly, things go bad! Better than I thought it would be, mostly because I think Anne Hathaway is a fine actress.
Recommended.

The Prestige
Two magicians (Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale) become arch-rivals in Victorian London after Hugh's character's wife dies accidently(?) during a magic act. A tale of obsession and revenge. I liked this one better than the other period-piece magician movie (The Illusionist) because that one was more a love story. I prefer to hunt the white whale. David Bowie was great in a small role as Nikola Tesla. Plus, any Scarlett Johansson (as the magician assistant) is good.
Recommended.

The Heartbreak Kid
The Farrelly brothers and Ben Stiller return, but maybe they should have stayed away. Ben Stiller plays a never-married 40 year old guy, who to keep his latest flame from moving to Europe - marries her. After 6 weeks of dating. Yeah, and then on their honeymoon in Cabo, the woman suddenly seems to change overnight (bitches always do that once they get the ring!) and he finds himself falling for another woman. Crazy! Some funny scenes, but the movie goes on for too long for those few laughs. Plus, Stiller's character is unlikable. Didn't marry his last fiance after 5 years, marries someone he barely knows, then tries to ditch her for someone new. No thanks. The hidden joke scenes in the end credits fell flat too.
Not Recommended.

Meet the Fockers
I'm sure many have already seen this, so I just want to point out Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand were great as the Fockers. I'd love to see both of them get more comic roles.
Recommended.

Clerks II
That shit is funny, yo! In fact, I think I like it better than the first one. And there is only one trilogy, you young punks. Three movies of walking to a volcano doesn't cut it. Rosario Dawson was, as it says in the credits: "turning in a performance so great, it made me actually believe that Becky would fuck Dante." Watch the deleted scenes, there is one in the car between Randal and Dante about jerking off in the bathroom at work that is funnier than anything actually left in the movie. I can't believe they cut it! I won't even mention the donkey.
Highly Recommended.

Michael Clayton
Oh, go see this one. George Clooney plays a "fixer" for a large NYC law firm that takes care of problems when they crop up. Actually, he's more accurately described as a janitor - when there is shit to clean up, they call him. Tom Wilkinson is great as a manic-depressive litigation attorney that wigs out in the middle of a deposition and strips down naked yelling gibberish. Clooney's character is called in to bring him back and make sure the multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit doesn't go down the tubes. Obstinately a thriller, I don't want to say anymore, but this is first-class filmmaking. Quiet and subtle when it needs to be, the plot and characters suck you in and is as enjoyable a movie as I've seen all year. Tilda Swinton is also excellent as an in-house attorney slowly cracking under the pressure.
Highly Recommended.

Saw
On the early recent wave of torture-horror movies. Graphic violence mostly just disgusts me, it doesn't scare me, so I avoided this for a while. Actually the gore wasn't that bad at all. People try to compare this to Se7en. Don't. You aren't Se7en, you aren't in the same league. Not that this is a bad movie, it's just not great. If you want a recent brutal well-made horror film, see Wolf Creek. Still, this was entertaining enough.
Recommended.

Sleepy Hollow
I saw this when it first came out and really liked it but didn't rewatch it until tonight. Johnny Depp plays a semi-cowardly, funny Ichabod Crane sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow, NY, in the year 1799 to investigate several murders. All beheadings by a mythical headless horseman. I love the art direction and sets of this movie. Great atmospherics. This is an overlooked Tim Burton movie. The only thing I hate is Christina Ricci's blonde hair. Though it didn't bother me as much this time as the exploding building. WTF was that?
Recommended.

The Philadelphia Story
Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, & Jimmy Stewart (won an Oscar)! One of the classic comedies, this is the story of an old society family in Philadelphia. The daughter (Hepburn) was once married to a self-described drunk (Grant). Two years after the divorce she is getting remarried and the ex is blackmailed into getting a reporter (Stewart) into the family circle to write an expose on the wedding. Of course Grant's character gets his ex-wife in a way the new guy never could. The ending is a little hokey by modern standards, but once again Hollywood should look back to movies like this to figure out how to do snappy dialogue and memorable characters.
Highly Recommended.

Barton Fink
No plot, no problem! A Coen bros. movie I had yet to see for some reason. It was conceived during Miller's Crossing (my fave of theirs) when they suffered from writer's block. A black comedy about a New York playwright (John Turturro) hired to write screenplays for a pre-WWII movie studio in Hollywood. Or something like that. More a meditation on what it means to be a writer and the selfishness of creation. Or something. Babylon!
Highly recommended.

No Country for Old Men
I've been looking forward to this since I heard it announced. One of my fave authors (McCarthy) with my one of my fave director(s) (Coen Bros.). Isn't it about time they win an Oscar?
Anyway a man (Josh Brolin in a moustache that doesn't look like a pornstache) out hunting comes across a drug deal gone bad. Everyone is dead, and there is a case containing $2 million. Of course he takes it. Bad guys soon begin to close in, including one that only looks human from the outside (Javier Bardem). The local sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to track the man with the money down before it all goes to hell.
Having read the book, I was surprised at how suspenseful I felt watching the story unfold on the screen. Some might be upset at the abrupt ending, but the Coen brothers did not deviate from the novel in any substantial way. The only thing I hated was the shotgun with a silencer. There is no such thing! Still an amazing, violent, and thoughtful film if you know what the story is driving at.
Highly Recommended.

I'm Not There
A very interesting, surreal look at Bob Dylan. Or as much of Dylan as can be found. Robert Zimmerman, the man, is nowhere to be found. This is the legend on display. Portrayed by six actors at different periods/personas. There is young, black actor Marcus Carl Franklin as "Woody Guthrie". The movie starts off with him, as you can see him building the lies and the legend. Heath Ledger plays "Robbie Clark" who is actually not a direct Dylan stand-in, but instead an actor who got his start in a Dylanesque role. But still his romance, marriage and divorce to Charlotte Gainsbourg's character is the center of Bob Dylan's domestic life. We see little of Ben Whishaw as the poetic "Arthur Rimbaud". And not much of Christian Bale's "Jack Rollins". First as protest singer and then as 70s Christian preacher. He actually got Dylan's speech patterns down the best. And of course, the reports are true. Cate Blanchett as mid-60s "Jude Quinn" is amazing. She is the heart of the film, dancing away just when you think you might figure it out. Finally there is Richard Gere as "Billy the Kid" - the strangest persona of all, one that perhaps never existed in real life. I'm still not sure what I saw, but I really enjoyed the ride.
Highly Recommended.

Thank You for Smoking
Saw this when it came out two years ago. Still funny as hell, and one the most entertaining and best films of 2005. See it!

Atonement
Not as good as the book. Since the book is my fave post-millennial novel, that is hardly a surprise. Keira Knightley did acquit herself well as the female half of the love story. Despite Saoirse Ronan's great performance as young Briony, I did not feel her character as deeply as in the book. I did like the addition of the meeting over coffee shortly before the start of the war, something not in the novel but was excellent here. The ending was changed slightly, probably needed to give it the emotional weight it would lack with the novel's original ending. Still a first rate film.
Highly recommended.

Batoru rowaiaru (Battle Royale)
Finally got around to seeing this one. In the near future of Japan, a random class of high school students is selected to fight each other to the death on a remote island until only one remains. Why? Beats the shit out of me. At least for Running Man you saw the effect on the society at large. Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is on hand as a former teacher with murky motives in charge of this class on the island. Hell, his motives are always murky. Still, this one was better than I thought it would be, and at times really got to the emotional pain of former classmates and friends forced to kill each other.
Recommended.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Now this one! Go see this one! Robert Downey Jr. is a thief turned actor named Harry Lockhart. Val Kilmer is a Hollywood P.I. named Gay Perry, who is, yes, gay. One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. Robert Downey Jr. narrates the film like in classic noir, but in a meta manner - constantly stopping the film to explain things, backing up, castigating himself for forgetting things ("Don't worry. I saw 'Lord of the Rings'; I'm not gonna have the movie end 20 times."). There are dead bodies, peeing on dead bodies, mistaken identitites, a severed finger, grammar lessons on adverbs, and the one-liners and snarky comments fly faster than the bullets. Much of the story is an homage to Raymond Chandler (like The Big Lebowski) and was writen/directed by Shane Black who first came onto the scene as the screenwriter for Lethal Weapon (and played Hawkins in Predator).
Perry: Merry Christmas, sorry I fucked you over.
Harry: No problem. Don't quit your gay job!
Highly Recommended.

Midnight Cowboy
Another classic movie I've never gotten around to seeing ("I'm walkin' here!"). First (and only) X-rated movie to win Best Picture (though it was reclassified as R the year after it won). Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman are great as two small-time hustlers living on the fringes of society in NYC. Just rent it and watch it already.
Highly recommended.

Bubba Ho-tep
I had high hopes for this one. Bruce Campbell, horror, comedy... how could it fail? It wasn't completely horrible, just not all that great. I did enjoy Bruce's take on an elderly Elvis, as well as Ossie Davis as a black JFK (don't ask). They just didn't do enough with it. The mummy was pretty damn creepy, props to the effects guys.
No recommendation.

Juno
The "in" movie of the last month or two. A high school girl gets pregnant, decides to give it away to a suburban couple she finds in the Penny Saver classifieds. A bit too precious and unrealistic for me (note to the high schoolers reading this: pregnancy ain't that easy), it did have some hilarious moments. Ellen Paige was wonderful, if she had been merely average the entire movie would've sucked. Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman were also spot on as the adopting couple with hidden flaws (I wonder if there is a gender breakdown on recognizing those flaws in both of them). Why Woody Allen hasn't yet hired Michael Cera to play young Woody Allen is beyond me. Best laugh in the entire movie: towards the end there is a sweet kiss. The gaggle of high school girls sitting behind me went "Awww" in unison. The entire theater burst out laughing.
Recommended.

Zodiac
When this movie came out last year, the ad campaign tried to sell it as another serial killer movie (albeit one based on real life). After all, it was directed by David Fincher (Se7en). I wasn't much interested. The marketers blew it. This movie is about the impact the Zodiac case had on those that became interested, then obsessed by it. Did they find the killer? No one except the dead know for sure. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, Chloë Sevigny... a first-rate cast made this one much better than I expected.
Highly Recommended.

Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries)
Ingmar Bergman seemingly had enough existential angst for all of INTPc. You know what is in store for you when you get him behind the camera. All the big ideas swim beneath the surface: death, love, faith. Here we have an old man, a doctor, traveling by car with his daughter-in-law and several other passengers they pick up along the way. Interspersed are several dreams and memories as the doctor looks back on his life. A life of coldness and loneliness. Much melancholy, but at the end some hope. Over fifty years old, this film is still mesmerizing.
Highly recommended.

The Long Kiss Goodnight
After Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (see above) I wanted to see what else the writer had done. I missed this one a decade ago, so I made a note to see it. Geena Davis is a contract killer with amnesia (Bourne?) who has settled into domestic life with her kid (Kill Bill?). She hires a P.I. (Samuel L. Jackson) to look for clues to her earlier lost life. When he finds a lead, things get explosive. There is a nice bone for you 9/11 conspiracy theorists too. Witty dialogue, good action; I don't know why I didn't see this when it first came out.
Recommended.

Mimic
Another mid-90s movie you'd think I'd have seen by now. Great concept, good actress (Mira Sorvino), and an excellent director (Guillermo del Toro) got my hopes up. Meh. I blame the writing. Giant mutated bugs terrorize... oh who cares. I didn't.
No recommendation.

Little Children
Another big critics fave. Two married spouses begin an affair in suburbia. A sex offender moves back into the neighborhood. Drama ensues. Okay, maybe a bit more than that. Jackie Earle Haley was great as the sex offender that hasn't entirely conquered his demons. Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses and she doesn't disappoint. Still, I never quite connected to it all. Maybe it was my mood that night, one never knows. Still a good film.
Recommended.

Phantoms
Enjoyable horror movie - a town in CO suddenly has nearly everyone in it disappear. Usually a Dean Koontz horror movie sucks (much like Stephen King's horror movies), so one that doesn't fail is a surprise. I cannot tell the difference between Joanna Going and Jami Gertz.
Recommended (barely).

Hard Candy
A 14-year old girl meets 32-year old man online. They decide to meet in public. A bit of banter, and the girl winds up coming back to his house... alone. The queasy feeling in your stomach only increases, but who is playing who? A little indie film that garnered a lot of attention a few years ago; though I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Saw the two leads (Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson) in two other movies recently (Juno and Little Children, respectively) which reminded me of this film. They were great and the director did not get exploitive with the situation and violence. I was satisfied with the emotional roller coaster I was put on and the final outcome. Had a weird dream I should write about...
Highly Recommended.

Jurassic Park II: Jurassic Parker
I realized recently that I never saw the sequels to Jurassic Park, despite my childhood love of dinos and the fact I saw the first one several times in the theater. Couldn't remember why, then I recalled it: I read the Lost World novel (upon which this movie was loosely based). It remains one of the worst novels I have ever read. Thankfully, Speilberg made a better sequel than Crichton did. Here, Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is recruited again by Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to return to another island near the island from the first movie. A site B, where many dinos were hatched. Being no fool, he declines, but rapidly accepts once he realizes his girlfriend (Julianne Moore) is already there documenting the dinosaurs. On the island, others show up hunting the creatures... all leading to the great specatcle of a T. Rex rampaging through San Diego. (I also loved the posters in a S.D. video store: Schwarzenegger in King Lear, and Tom Hanks in Tsunami Sunrise).
Recommended.

Jurassic Park III: Jurassic Parkest
Speilberg exits, but Sam Neill and Laura Dern (briefly) return. Some kid gets lost on the site B island, but somehow doesn't get eaten (pure crap). His divorced parents trick Neill's palentology professor into coming to the island on the mistaken belief he's been there. Of course, bad things happen. There is a new dino, a spinosaurus that is bigger and badder than the T. Rex. Stupid! Bigger is not always better, and the new one looks like a walking Florida Gator mascot. Stupid Hollywood sequels. Why not just have Godzilla? The raptors looked funny. More accurate maybe, but why fuck with what came before? Stupid Hollywood sequels. This one was short too, an hour and a half long including credits. The Pteranodons were interesting, I guess. Yawn. Stupid Hollywood sequels.
No Recommendation.

Village of the Damned
Or as I like to call it, Village of the Aryan Aspie Kids. Ha ha! A mysterious force knocks out an entire village on the Left Coast. When they wake up, all the women are pregnant. Nine months later, they give birth to creepy white haired children that grow up without empathy and special telepathic powers. Among the concerned adults are the town doctor (Christopher Reeve), the town priest (Mark Hamill), and a government epidemiologist (Kirstie Alley). What does this mean - both for the village and mankind? I don't know, but if Superman and Luke Skywalker can't save us we're pretty much fucked. John Carpenter is usually reliable for me, but this one was pretty meh.
No Recommendation.

The Squid and the Whale
A Noah Baumbach film (if you haven't seen Kicking and Screaming - go see it now, esp. if you are still in your early twenties) about a couple (Jeff Daniels & Laura Linney) who get divorced and the affect it has on them and their teen boys (Owen Kline & Jesse Eisenberg) in 1980s Brooklyn. At times darkly funny, the film really lays bare how creepy teenage boys can be. Laura Linney is one of my favorite actresses and she got a lot of notice as the wife who begins to realize her own potential as a writer and person. I thought Daniels, however, did a great job with a more unlikeable character - a needy, passive-aggressive, selfish man that once had a promising writing career and is jealous of his ex-wife. The kids made me absolutely cringe at times. Even the Baldwin brother was good.
Recommended.

Cidade de Deus (City of God)
Set in the violent slums of Rio de Janeiro from which this movie gets its name, we see young kids grow of age in the 60s & 70s... then die (that's not a spoiler). The only main character not to go into the gangs is Buscape (Rocket). He wants to be a photographer, an observer. Based on real events and an actual gang war, it's hard to watch sometimes when you note how young these kids are. Even more amazing is that nearly everyone in the movie had never acted before, many like the lead actor coming from the Rio slums. This film was nominated for numerous awards, and deservedly so.
Highly Recommended.

The Frighteners
I had no clue Peter Jackson directed this. Some very good parts (and it got very creepy at the end during the flashbacks) and a half decent story. Plus Michael J. Fox. Every one loves Alex P. Keaton Michael J. Fox. There were some bad aspects: the weird FBI guy annoyed me, and the movie simultaneously tried to do too much (rated R) while trying to appeal to a broad audience that might not like horror (they tried to get it to PG-13). Still, there is enough here to recommend a viewing if you haven't seen it. Lord of the Rings is only 5 years after this, a good learning experience.
Recommended.

Goodfellas
I haven't seen this since it first came out on video and wanted to see if it still held up. It does, and I think I appreciate it more now than when I was a teenager. Whatever happened to Ray Liotta?
Highly Recommended

Breach
This one is fun for D.C. area residents to spot the filming locations. A young FBI recruit (Ryan Phillippe) is assigned by a superior (Laura Linney - god I love this actress, I want to have her babies) to the now infamous spy/traitor Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper - one of the five best actors working today) to gather evidence on him before they make an arrest. Even though you know the outcome if you read a newspaper, they still make it a compelling thriller. The young wife (Caroline Dhavernas) bothered me for some reason in the back of my brain until I looked her up. She was the star of the great short-lived TV series Wonderfalls. Phillippe may be the weak link in the cast, but he does pretty well. A ton of great supporting actors (Gary Cole, Dennis Haysbert, Kathleen Quinlan) help too.
Recommended.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (Unrated version)
Watched this again last night. Not too different, but more boobies! Hooray for boobies!
Recommended.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
This one picks up right where the first one left off. Harold & Kumar are headed to Amsterdam, and if you've seen the trailer you know what happens. A lot of people missed the social commentary in the first one, this one beats you over the head with it. Rob Corddry's character (govt. big shot) just annoyed me. Bigger and bolder than the last one, with a whole lot of frontal nudity. Not quite as funny and charming as the last one. If they make another sequel I hope they scale it back at bit. The immortal Neil Patrick Harris returns, still tripping balls. Stick around after the credits to see his ultimate fate (though just have someone tell you, it's not worth the time).
Recommended.

Lawrence of Arabia
Another classic I've never seen. If you haven't seen it either - and have access to a good widescreen TV (or even better a film showing) then go see it. Nearly 4 hours long it is worth time invested. A film of this scope demands nothing less. Here we see T.E. Lawrence's life calling: leading the Bedouin tribes of Arabia versus the Turks during the First World War. Always exciting to see someone find their life's purpose. Even if it involves the horror (and thrill) of war. Once you see the cinematography you will understand why this film is so influential among filmmakers today. I also noted that I think I only saw women onscreen for about three minutes, and none of them spoke. Also nice to see the Americans weren't the first western power to fuck around with a culture they know little about.
Highly Recommended.

A Scanner Darkly
This was a little mindbender. Based on the Philip K. Dick novel, I was intrigued to see what the director of Dazed and Confused would do. Using rotoscoping animation was... interesting. It fit the film, but I'm not sure I want to see it that often. Much like the scramble suits worn by the undercover officers, the effect left me a bit discombobulated. Keanu Reeves plays one of those detectives investigating a drug ring involving a deadly new drug in the near future. Or that's what it seems at first. He also is playing one of the people he's investigating (one "friend" is played by the always welcome Robert Downey Jr.), or is he? Paranoia abounds. The movie also hits home with the current state of mild paranoia and liberties slowly being eroded away with the "war on terror". Watch this one sober.
Recommended.

Iron Man
My favorite superhero growing up was Iron Man (and a soft spot for Superman of course). I think I was supposed to be an X-Men fan. You know, outsider kid, reads about people born "different" with special powers... yeah! That'll show all those kids at school! Once I zap them with my laser eyes they'll think twice! Whatever. I never cared for those whiney mutants. Iron Man was different. At first he's forced into that suit of armor. Badly wounded on a battlefield and forced to create destructive weapons for the enemy; Tony Stark creates the suit to save his life and escape. Back to his old life. An old life that is my dream life - a genius that likes to drink, chase skirts, and is obscenely rich. Instead he chooses to become a superhero. Much like Batman, without all the angsty dead parents baggage.
I was a bit skeptical when I heard of an Iron Man film. He's not one of Marvel's top line heroes. I figured we'd get a cheap CGI-crapfest. Then I heard Robert Downey Jr. was going to play Stark. I never thought of him for the role, or think he'd want to do it. Brilliant move. He's funny, sexy, and angry in all the right places. Few could have elevated this movie above the standard superhero movie. Enlisting a cast that includes Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow was also a wise move. Little things, like Stan Lee's best cameo yet, Downey's snarky one liners, and a post-credits scene worth waiting for made me appreciate the effort put into this film.
In short, I like Iron Man.
Highly Recommended.

The Company of Wolves
In addition to Iron Man, I also love werewolves. Probably cause I like real wolves so much. This movie has intrigued me ever since I was a kid and saw the cover at the local rental shop (see below). I'd like to report this is a great cult movie, but they don't quite pull it off. Still, there are some pretty good visuals and acting in this one... esp. considering it came out in 1984.
A young girl on the threshold of becomong a woman falls asleep and dreams of a village and her grandmother (Angela Lansbury). One should quickly pick up on the fact this is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. The entire movie is a very dream-like fairy tale. Except it is also a metaphor for the war between the sexes. If there is a war at all. "Little girls, this seems to say, never stop upon your way, never trust a stranger friend, no-one knows how it will end! As you're pretty, so be wise! Wolves may lurk in every guise! Now, as then, it's simple truth, sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!" And also, "don't stray from the path." But off the path is where the fun lies.
Recommended.