Sicko

SICKO (2007) - June 30, 2007
Wow! I don't think I've been that bored during a movie in a long, long time. About how awful the medical system is in America compared to other countries, this movie has one point to make and it makes it, and makes it, and makes it, and makes it, and makes it, until you're sure it must be done, but then it continues making it for what feels like another few hours. I don't think there's enough here to sustain a 15 minute short, let alone a feature film running at almost two hours long (very long). The film features profile after profile of people who either live in America and have had a terrible medical experience, or live in another country and had a great one. It just hammers home the same point over and over again until it's just like ENOUGH ALREADY. Okay. The health system in America stinks. I get it. Everyone in the theatre gets it. We all got it like an hour ago. Can we go home yet? Michael Moore is obviously a controversial figure because of his blatantly one-sided politics. But what should really be controversial is how such a mediocre filmmaker has managed to become so popular. *

Live Free or Die Hard

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (2007) - June 29, 2007
Well, I tried lowering my expectations, but you can only lower your expectations so much. And I was actually kind of enjoying it for the first little while, though not as a Die Hard movie, of course; as a Die Hard film this is an abject failure from start to finish. But just as a contemporary action film it was actually kind of okay for about the first half or so. Nothing special, but watchable and mostly entertaining. But then the action scenes just got progressively sillier and more over-the-top, until by the end it may as well have been Bugs Bunny or Woody Woodpecker facing off against the harrier jet. It almost reminded me of the intentionally overblown conclusion of Hot Fuzz, only I'm pretty sure this wasn't supposed to be parody. It didn't help that the film was PG-13, and thus neutered of almost all its violence and swearing. Even the usually reliable Timothy Olyphant made for an awful villain, though it wasn't really his fault; the character just never seemed like any type of a threat to John McClane. I could continue down this laundry list of complaints, but really, what's the point? This just didn't feel like a Die Hard movie. And even taken on its own, it still kind of sucked. **

1408

1408 (2007) - June 27, 2007
Though the premise was perhaps a bit thin for a full-length movie, this was a well made and effective horror film about a writer on the paranormal who checks into an "evil" hotel room, where some very strange stuff starts to go down. The film does a good job setting everything up, and a lot of the stuff in the hotel room is pretty suspenseful, though it does feel more like a string of random scary stuff than a cohesive whole. I enjoyed it, though. ***

A Mighty Heart

A MIGHTY HEART (2007) - June 26, 2007
Angelina Jolie gives a really powerful performance in this film about the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl. Michael Winterbottom's documentary-like direction suits the material well -- it's nothing to write home about, but it's non-intrusive and worked well enough for the most part. There were times where the film felt a bit too much like Law & Order: Pakistan, and the movie was at its weakest during those parts, but for the most part it was worth it if only for Jolie's performance. ***

Mr. Lucky

MR. LUCKY (1943) - June 25, 2007
Do I even need to mention that Cary Grant was really good in this movie? Or does that basically go without saying? Well he was, playing a slick conman/gambler who intends to bilk a wartime charity out of a large sum of money. It's a bit of a departure for Grant, and of course he is excellent. The film itself is pretty good too, not exactly a classic but certainly not deserving of its current DVD-less status. ***

Ninotchka

Ninotchka (1939) - June 24, 2007
An enjoyable film about a no-nonsense Russian envoy who travels to Paris and falls in love. It was well made and quite well acted. I don't have much else to say about this film, but it was good. ***

The Good German

THE GOOD GERMAN (2006) - June 23, 2007
Well, I can't say he was entirely successful, though I do applaud Soderbergh for trying something different. A murder-mystery shot in the style of a film from the '40s, this was about... well, that's one its main problems. It's constantly throwing information at the viewer, and becomes harder and harder to follow as it goes along. I always had the basic gist of what was happening, but with all the names and information it was a bit hard to keep up. The film was well acted, and Soderbergh did a fairly good job of mimicking the style of the era, though the cinematography seemed confusingly over-exposed for much of the film. **1/2

Christine

CHRISTINE (1983) - June 22, 2007
Though I wouldn't put this up there with John Carpenter's classics, this was still a good film. About a demonic car that seems to have a mind of its own, this was somewhat slow-paced, but entertaining throughout. It was quite well directed; John Carpenter definitely knows how to make a widescreen movie look good. ***

Ratatouille

RATATOUILLE (2007) - June 21, 2007
I think this movie just confirms that Brad Bird and Pixar is the best combination since peanut butter and chocolate. This was a really well made and enjoyable film about a Parisian rat who loves good food and dreams of being a chef. Visually, this may be the best looking CG cartoon yet, as the design of all the characters and the film itself is pretty much perfect, and it's extremely well animated. While it's probably not as good as the Incredibles, that film would have been pretty much impossible to top. This is a really enjoyable film, really well written and directed by Brad Bird, who is quickly proving to be a truly great director. I saw this film with a horrendously bad audience and I still managed to like it as much as I did; a repeat viewing is definitely in order. The fact that this film will almost certainly be outperformed by Shrek 3 is a sad, sad state of affairs. ***1/2

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (2007) - June 16, 2007
Man. When they make Fantastic Four 3, they need to fire Tim Story -- he kind of sucks. But more importantly, they need to fire Don Payne and Mark Frost. Tim Story's direction is bland and somewhat incompetent, but Payne and Frost's script is outright bad, featuring some laughable dialogue and embarrassingly juvenile humour. And while they're firing people, they can fire Ioan Gruffudd (who was even worse here than he was in the first one) and Jessica Alba -- you rarely see such bad performances in a mainstream movie. I guess this movie wasn't completely terrible, just exceptionally mediocre. And it takes a special kind of ineptitude to turn a character as cool as Galactus into a lame-o cloud of black smoke. **

Paprika

PAPRIKA (2006) - June 15, 2007
A stunning film by Satoshi Kon, and further proof that the Japanese are leaps and bounds ahead of us when it comes to animation. Though the plot, involving a device that allows the wearer to enter another person's dreams, wasn't always completely clear, this was still a really unique and enjoyable film. I can easily say that I haven't seen anything quite like this before (which is a comment which probably hasn't applied to mainstream American animation since the 1940s). It was really well animated and almost worth it for the visuals alone. I'd like to see this again, as it definitely seems like it would improve on repeat viewings. ***1/2

Blonde Venus

BLONDE VENUS (1932) - June 13, 2007
Marlene Dietrich was quite good in this film about a nightclub singer whose life gets progressively worse after her husband leaves the country to get treatment for a terminal illness. Cary Grant was also good (of course) in a small part. The film was slow and felt a bit too meandering at times, but was well made and never boring. **1/2

Bubble

BUBBLE (2005) - June 10, 2007
A really low-key drama-murder/mystery set in a small town. The film consisted mostly of the three main characters either working or making small-talk, and was shot almost entirely with a static camera, and yet there was something oddly compelling about it. It probably helps that it was exceptionally short (73 minutes). It was also pretty well acted, which is impressive considering the cast consists entirely of non-actors. ***

Hostel: Part II

HOSTEL: PART II (2007) - June 9, 2007
A worthy follow-up. Though there was nothing that had me on the edge of my seat quite like the whole sequence from the original where Jay Hernandez attempts his escape, there were still parts of this film what were really gripping, particularly in the latter half. Roth does spend a good amount of time setting everything up and establishing the characters, but that's a good thing; if he put the characters in peril too quickly, it wouldn't have been nearly as effective, because the audience wouldn't have much invested in their survival. It was also interesting to find out a bit more about how the hostel is run and the types of people who use its services (I also liked the little twist where the two torturers each turn out to be the opposite of what the audience expects). Roth's direction was quite good, and it was really well acted. And I saw it with a really bad audience, so who knows, maybe I'd like it even more without a bunch of no-good hooligans talking the whole time. ***1/2

Ocean's Thirteen

OCEAN'S THIRTEEN (2007) - June 8, 2007
Though enjoyable and expectedly well directed, this was probably the weakest of the three films. Al Pacino was a good addition to the cast. I don't have much else to say about this movie, so... Yeah. I liked it. ***

Surf's Up

SURF'S UP (2007) - June 8, 2007
A surprisingly enjoyable cartoon, done in faux-documentary style, about a young penguin who dreams of making it big as a surfer. Considering how bad this looked, this was a very pleasant surprise. The voice-work was quite good, it was nicely animated, and though it's clearly a kid's movie, it didn't feel juvenile (like, say, Shrek 3). The whole fake documentary thing also worked very well. This wasn't exactly a Pixar-level classic (the gold standard for CGI cartoons) but it was entertaining and fun. ***

Duck Soup

DUCK SOUP (1933) - June 7, 2007
Though less a movie than a series of gags strung together loosely by a plot, this was basically enjoyable, though some of the jokes were funnier than others. It would probably work better with an enthusiastic crowd, as it generally feels more like a filmed comedy routine than an actual movie. **1/2

The File of the Golden Goose

THE FILE OF THE GOLDEN GOOSE (1969) - June 6, 2007
Yul Brynner is the highlight in this dated and otherwise unspectacular film about a secret service agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring. It actually starts out pretty well, but is dragged down by a really dull midsection in which Brynner follows up various leads in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the gang. It picks up again at the end, but it's really too late by then. But there's one scene which almost makes it all worthwhile: at the beginning of the film, Brynner's boss is trying to get him to replace an undercover agent who was murdered in the field. Brynner is undecided at this point, and asks his boss, "Was he able to take any of those bastards with him?" His boss replies, "No." Brynner thinks about this for a moment, and then says, "Hopefully I can do better," at which point he stubs out his cigarette. If that's not badass, I don't know what is. **

Ocean's Twelve

OCEAN'S TWELVE (2004) - June 5, 2007 (Second Viewing)
Well, this was probably slightly better than I remembered it being, but still an inferior sequel. It's superbly directed and looks very good, and it's enjoyable throughout. But unlike the first one, which was tightly plotted and focused entirely on one spectacular heist, this was a bit more meandering and episodic, and some of the sections worked better than others. It's still quite entertaining, though, and worthwhile if only for the look of it; it's pretty amazing that Soderbergh was able to make what is essentially a big Hollywood movie with such a unique sense of style. ***

Ocean's Eleven

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) - June 4, 2007 (Second Viewing)
Wow! I remember liking this movie a lot, but it's even better than I remembered. For one thing, Steven Soderbergh's direction is absolutely perfect; Soderbergh is a great director and I think this is his best film. It's just such a good looking movie -- Soderbergh's command of the camera is pretty much unrivaled, and his use of music to accompany the visuals is always dead-on. The movie is really fun and fast-paced, and features nary a wasted minute. Plus there's just something inherently fascinating about watching a bunch of guys plan and pull off such an elaborate heist. Good stuff! ****

The Closet

THE CLOSET (2001) - June 3, 2007
Daniel Auteuil was quite good in this film about a man who decides to pretend he's gay so that he won't get fired. Though it wasn't quite as wacky as the premise would lead you to believe, it was well made and entertaining throughout. ***

The Untouchable

THE UNTOUCHABLE (2006) - June 2, 2007
Sweet Jesus. A meandering ordeal about a young actress who wanders around France, then travels to India in search of her father and wanders around there. That's it. Most of the movie consists of the main character walking around while the handheld camera follows her from behind. Jeez Louise. *

Mr. Brooks

MR. BROOKS (2007) - June 1, 2007
Kevin Costner was quite good in this film. And that's just about the only positive thing I have to say about Mr. Brooks. This was not a good film; badly made (by a guy whose last writing credit was Jungle 2 Jungle, and whose last directing credit was Kuffs), this was a stupid movie. About a wealthy serial killer who has William Hurt as his imaginary friend (and I suppose you could do worse than William Hurt as far as imaginary friends go) and who is blackmailed into killing again. The main problem with this film is that there are just too many things going on, and it feels slipshod. There's Mr. Brooks and his imaginary friend, there's his daughter (who, it turns out, is starting her own career as a serial killer), there's Demi Moore as a gritty cop who's trying to take down Mr. Brooks, deal with an escaped killer and her sleazy ex-husband, there's Dane Cook as a wannabe killer... It's just too much. Plus the whole thing as a really uneven vibe, like the director couldn't decide if he wanted to do a serious drama or something more tongue-in-cheek. There's also a pervading feeling of incompetence; the direction isn't outright bad, but it isn't good either. But hey... Kevin Costner was good. *1/2