Moon

MOON (2009) - June 25, 2009
A really well made film about a miner on the moon, who is working by himself and reaching the end of his three year contract, who starts to realize that something sinister is afoot. This is the type of smart, interesting sci-fi film that is, lamentably, so rarely seen on the big screen. This has definitely been influenced by previous great sci-fi like 2001, but the film never feels derivative or like a rehash. Duncan Jones' direction is quite good, and Sam Rockwell gives an astounding performance that would easily get an Oscar nod if there were any justice in the world. ***1/2

Half Nelson

HALF NELSON (2006) - June 24, 2009
A basically well made but meandering and really slow paced film about an inner-city teacher with a drug problem, and his relationship with one of the students in his class. The film is directed with a gritty, shaky-cam, documentary-like visual style which isn't the best ever, though it gets the job done (I'm generally not a fan of the faux-documentary visual style, and this certainly hasn't changed my mind, though the style does essentially fit the tone of the film). What really saves this movie are the two central performances -- Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps are both so good that it almost makes you forget the film's shortcomings. **1/2

Just my Luck

JUST MY LUCK (2006) - June 23, 2009
A cheesy but enjoyable romantic comedy about a girl with ridiculously good luck who winds up switching luck with a guy with ridiculously bad luck. I wouldn't exactly call this a good movie, but it was generally well acted, and entertaining throughout. Special props must go to Chris Pine -- I really hope he doesn't get pegged as a sci-fi actor, because he's definitely got that movie star charisma that you don't see too often. **1/2

13: Game of Death

13: GAME OF DEATH (2006) - June 22, 2009
A kind of silly but enjoyable thriller about a down-on-his luck salesman, recently fired, who receives a mysterious phone call and is informed that he's been selected as a contestant for a new game show, and must complete 13 tasks if he wants to win the jackpot. The tasks start simply enough (kill a bug, make some kids cry) but get more sinister as the game goes along. Essentially a non-crappy version of 12 Rounds with less explosions (and since this came out a few years ago, I'm going to have to assume that the writer of 12 Rounds took more than a little inspiration from this film), this wasn't exactly great, but it was quite entertaining throughout. It kind of falls apart if you over-think it, but for what it was it was enjoyable enough. ***

Friday the 13th

FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) - June 21, 2009
Another crappy horror remake from Marcus Nispel and Platinum Dunes, though this was slightly better (or slightly less crappy, I should say) than the Texas Chainsaw redo. Opening with a group of partying teens who are on the search for some marijuana they think is growing around Camp Crystal Lake, the film bizarrely spends almost half an hour with these disposable characters even though they're really only there to establish Jason and up the already-high body count (this is the sequence that would take about five minutes in any other horror film). The movie then establishes a whole new batch of characters who are, astoundingly, even more generic and cliched than the previous bunch (including a motorcycle-riding badass with a heart of gold named Clay (!) -- at first I was thinking that this had to be tongue-in-cheek, but I'm pretty sure it was being played seriously). The problem with this movie, aside from the murky, unpleasant visuals and the fact that it's almost impossible to care about these thinly-drawn characters as they get offed one by one, is that it just isn't particularly compelling or entertaining at all. There are a few decent sequences here and there, but for the most part it's just dull. Also: special mention must go to the female protagonist's one-liner after she thinks she's about to kill Jason ("Say hi to mommy... in hell!"), which has to be one of the worst one-liners I've ever heard (the unconvincing delivery probably didn't help matters, but really, how can you possibly say that line and not sound ridiculous?). *1/2

Igor

IGOR (2008) - June 20, 2009
A mediocre but essentially enjoyable cartoon about a land which is dominated by evil scientists and their Igors (their hunchbacked assistants); one Igor dreams of becoming an evil scientist himself, though he may not be as evil as he thinks he is. The movie is filled to the brim with celebrity voices (it's definitely using the Dreamworks philosophy of cramming in as many celebrities as possible), which works against the film more often than not (many of the casting choices seemed like they were made purely to add another name to the marquee, and after a while the cavalcade of celebrity voices gets distracting). The film is basically entertaining throughout, and the animation is decent enough. It's not exactly Pixar, but it could be a lot worse -- it's not overly juvenile or crammed with random pop culture references like certain Dreamworks cartoons, so that's a plus. **1/2

Ride 'Em Cowboy

RIDE 'EM COWBOY (1942) - June 19, 2009
A decent Abbott and Costello film, which finds the two -- after a wacky chain of events -- working as cowboys on a ranch. The problem with this movie (and every Abbott and Costello film up to this point) is that the duo essentially share an equal amount of screentime with other characters (in this case, involving a romance with a writer of cowboy fiction who doesn't actually know anything about being a cowboy); there are also several songs which have nothing to do with the plot of the film and which seriously hurt the movie's pacing (everything essentially stops so that these songs can be performed). However, pretty much everything with Abbott and Costello is quite good, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. **1/2

Eden Lake

EDEN LAKE (2008) - June 18, 2009
A really effective horror/thriller about a couple, on a camping trip in a remote forest, who run afoul of a group of violent teens. The film does a really good job of setting up the characters and making us care about them before putting them in peril. It's also really well directed by James Watkins, who thankfully avoids the dreaded shaky-cam (the film actually looks quite good), and does a great job of building up and maintaining a high level of tension. Essentially, once the horror stuff starts getting into gear, it essentially doesn't let up until the end credits roll. Definitely a primo first film, and I look forward to seeing more from Watkins. ***1/2

Silent Running

SILENT RUNNING (1972) - June 17, 2009
A slow-paced and somewhat dated film about a space ship in the distant future, which carries a couple of bio-domes (it's implied that something terrible happened to the Earth and that these domes are all that has survived of Earth's greenery). After they're given the order to jettison and nuke the domes, the ship's somewhat off-kilter botanist snaps and murders the other crew in order to save his dome. Bruce Dern plays the character as essentially being insane right from the get-go, and I'm not sure if that was supposed to be the point or not, but it wasn't the best performance ever. The film (and Dern's performance) does improve once the other crew members have been dispatched, but certainly, this is no 2001 (despite being directed by Douglas Trumbull, the man behind many of the special effects in 2001; not surprisingly, the effects in this film are quite impressive for the time). **1/2

Citizen Kane

CITIZEN KANE (1941) - June 16, 2009 (Fifth or Sixth Viewing)
Justifiably known as one of the best -- if not the best -- films of all time, this was a masterpiece about the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper tycoon. Everything about this film -- from Orson Welles' direction to Gregg Tolland's stunning cinematography to the performances -- is pretty much perfect. I don't think I can possibly say too much about Welles' direction, which is absolutely amazing -- both considering when it was made, and just taken on its own. The film has barely aged at all, mostly because of Welles' dazzlingly contemporary direction (in fact, I wish more contemporary directors would learn a thing or two from Orson Welles). Then there are the bravura performances, particularly Welles himself, who convincingly portrays Charles Foster Kane from from his early years as an idealistic young newspaper owner, to his final days as an embittered, defeated old man. It's a really amazing performance; the fact that Welles was able to do such an incredible job both in front of and behind the camera pretty much makes my brain explode. What a genius -- and what a tragedy that he was subsequently treated so shoddily by Hollywood. ****

The Proposal

THE PROPOSAL (2009) - June 15, 2009
An overlong, silly romantic comedy about a woman who blackmails her assistant into marrying her after she finds out that she's about to get deported. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have definite chemistry and are both quite good in their roles (Bullock in particular is an old pro in the romcom genre) -- I just wish that they were in a better movie. The same can be said for the supporting cast, including people like Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson, who deserve so much better than this. The main problem with this film is the overabundance of silly, superfluous moments (ie. Bullock and her relatives-to-be visiting an egregiously wacky stripper, Betty White and Bullock doing a bizarre raindance of some sort, etc.). There is a genuinely entertaining romcom buried in here somewhere; this film should have been about 80 minutes instead of 107. It works best when it's being essentially low-key -- every time the film goes for over-the-top laughs, it absolutely falls flat. **

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (2009) - June 13, 2009
A surprisingly entertaining remake about a man who holds a subway car full of people for ransom, and the transit employee who gets stuck dealing with him. Walking in, this seemed like an unnecessary remake to me; the original is justifiably regarded as a classic, and while this probably wasn't as good as that, it was still quite compelling all the way through. As with Tony Scott's last film, Deja Vu, he has considerably toned down his way over-the-top style, which is a good thing. The film is still a bit flashier than it needs to be, but for the most part Scott's direction is quite restrained, at least comparatively speaking. The film does a really good job of keeping everything moving at a really fast pace despite the fact that much of the film consists of the two main characters talking over the radio, and Denzel Washington made for a really compelling lead character. John Travolta didn't fare quite as well, but he was decent enough as the crazed hijacker. ***1/2

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

FUTURAMA: THE BEAST WITH A BILLION BACKS (2008) - June 11, 2009
Although perhaps not quite as good as the first film, Bender's Big Score, this was still quite enjoyable -- this time finding the Earth invaded by a strange creature from another dimension. This one kind of felt a bit padded out, but it was definitely entertaining, and it's always nice to see the further adventures of the Planet Express crew. ***

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS (2007) - June 9, 2009
A well made documentary about the competition between Billy Mitchell, the record-holder for Donkey Kong since 1982, and Steve Wiebe, who is out to take the high score. The film is quite enjoyable throughout, and does a good job of building tension as we wonder if Wiebe will be able to beat the score. ***

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) - June 8, 2009
A really well made anime about a young girl who discovers that she has the power to travel through time; she initially has a lot of fun changing things around and using her power to generally get her way, though she soon realizes that her actions have consequences. The film kind of reminded me of a cross between Groundhog Day and the Butterfly Effect. It was quite well made, and though it was a tad slow in parts, it was definitely entertaining throughout. ***

The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice

THE LIBRARIAN: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE (2008) - June 7, 2009
Another kind of mediocre but basically entertaining entry in the Librarian series. This one finds the Librarian in New Orleans, seeking out the Judas Chalice -- a cup that will supposedly revive dead vampires. Like the other films in this series, this never quite lives up to its potential, thanks mostly to the ultra-low budget which permeates every facet of this movie. Noah Wyle is as charming and charismatic as ever, and in fact all the performances are quite passable -- the main problem with this film (and the series as a whole) is how low-rent it tends to feel, and the less-than-stellar screenplay (it's written by the guy who directed the Love Guru, so I guess I should just be glad that the film is as good as it is). **1/2

While She was Out

WHILE SHE WAS OUT (2008) - June 6, 2009
Starring Kim Basinger as a seemingly meek housewife who fights back against a group of goons after they terrorize her on Christmas Eve, this was a surprisingly bad film. Surprisingly because the film has a decent enough concept, and because it was executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro. I can't imagine what he saw in this movie. Featuring some embarrassingly clunky dialogue, this was definitely one of the most badly written films I've seen in a while (and I just saw Pathology). It takes way too long to get going, and once it does it just isn't all that compelling; the bad guys are atrociously written and never come off as being even the least bit threatening, so there's pretty much no suspense. Some of the deaths are reasonably violent, but all the characters are so underwritten that it's hard to feel anything but apathy when they get killed off -- certainly, there's not that feeling of bad guys getting their comeuppance that you'd expect out of a film like this. Kim Basinger was fine, but all the other performances were uniformly terrible. Even the usually reliable Lukas Haas was awful, though to his credit I don't think a good performance would have even been possible given the material he had to work with. This was pretty much an all-around failure. *1/2

The Hangover

THE HANGOVER (2009) - June 5, 2009
An entertaining comedy about four guys who go to Vegas for a bachelor party; they wake up the next day with the groom missing, and with no memory of what happened the previous night. This was never laugh-out-loud hilarious (though I did chuckle a few times) but it remained enjoyable throughout thanks to the affable lead characters (particularly a scene-stealing Zach Galifianakis) and the film's brisk pace. ***

Pathology

PATHOLOGY (2008) - June 3, 2009
A stupid movie about a young doctor who goes to a new hospital and suddenly finds himself a participant in a group who take turns killing people, giving the other doctors a chance to try to figure out how they did it. This group is led by Dr. Gallo (get it? Gallo? Gallows? Get it??). Setting aside the implausibility of this group murdering dozens of people and never even raising the suspicions of the police (because in a movie this silly, you're not really supposed to think about stuff like that), or the fact that this group of coworkers all happen to be sociopaths, or the fact that the protagonist essentially goes from normal guy to crack-smoking murderer overnight... even setting all that aside, this was still not a particularly good movie. It was written by Mark Nevaldine and Brian Taylor, the duo who wrote and directed the Crank films, which were both awesomely absurd. This was just absurd. It's kind of disheartening, because I had sort of assumed that Neveldine and Taylor were talented, but this was so bad on so many levels it really does make me wonder if they aren't just one-hit wonders, good in the over-the-top context of a Crank film, but otherwise inept. And this was definitely inept, from the clunky dialogue to how ridiculously, gleefully evil everyone in the little group were (all they were missing were mustaches to twirl). Marc Schölermann's direction was fine, and Milo Ventimiglia did the best he could with the material, but aside from a few decent scenes this was really not good at all. *1/2

Timecrimes

TIMECRIMES (2007) - June 2, 2009
An intriguing thriller about a man who stumbles onto a facility where time travel takes place, and the many shenanigans that ensue. This is one of those movies that really has to be watched more than once to fully appreciate -- the film is continually adding new layers to what has previously unfolded, and so a second viewing would definitely be interesting, if not downright necessary. My main problem with this film is that many of the main character's actions as the film progresses seem quite illogical, though the more I think about it the more I think it does make sense. I do feel like I need to see this again to know I really feel about it, though. The film is definitely quite well made; I'm looking forward to seeing what Nacho Vigalondo comes up with next. ***

Away We Go

AWAY WE GO (2009) - June 1, 2009
Featuring expectedly solid direction from Sam Mendes and really good lead performances from John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph (who couldn't be farther from the usual, embarrassingly over-the-top assortment of characters she played on SNL), this was a film that should have been really good but was weighed down by an oppressive amount of quirkiness. The film surrounds Krasinski and Rudolph with characters who are unreasonably quirky and, many times, downright unpleasant. The movie, which finds the two main characters traveling to different places and seeing old friends and family while trying to figure out where to move, is extremely episodic, and it does improve in the last couple of segments. At that point, the film starts focusing more on the main characters themselves and less on their interactions with the absurd supporting cast -- but it's sort of too late by then. The film is at its best when it's just a low-key drama about a young couple trying to find their place in the world; when it starts introducing all the "hilarious" supporting players, it falls flat. **1/2