The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) — 9/10

This movie is dedicated to Heath Ledger—he died halfway through the filming—who stars alongside Christopher Plummer as the eponymous Doctor Parnassus. Ledger was very good; Plummer was spellbinding. The remainder of Ledger’s role was filled seamlessly by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and finally Colin Farrell, who played the character in the “imaginarium” scenes, where reality was slippery anyway. It’s never possible to predict how a Terry... [More]

Machete (2010) — 6/10

This movie is—and I never thought I’d use this phrase—a Danny Trejo vehicle directed by Robert Rodriguez (of Once Upon a Time in Mexico fame), so it’s got lots of blood, lots of flying appendages and lots of buxom, armed babes. Machete continues Rodriguez’s homage to Russ Meyers and proves relatively entertaining, no thanks to Jessica Alba’s wooden acting. Good thing Lindsey Lohan was also in the flick or Alba might have looked bad. Lohan plays a tweaking daughter... [More]

Talking Funny (2011) — 8/10

A four-person round table about comedy starring Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Louis C.K. Lots of laughs and some interesting points made—though Gervais seemed to be far ahead of the others in pure erudition, trying to delve deeper into the philosophical and perhaps philological implications of humor and what it means to say that something’s funny. The others seemed more into gut feeling that something was funny and weren’t too interested in... [More]

My Life in Ruins (2008) — 6/10

A cute comedy about tour guides in Greece. Almost totally formulaic but still somehow entertaining.

Crimson Tide (1995) — 8/10

An excellent submarine thriller with Denzel Washington as Captain Gene Hackman’s executive officer as their sub heads toward a showdown with Russian rebels with their fingers on the nuclear trigger. Viggo Mortenson is excellent as well, and James Gandolfini plays a small-minded kowtower so well that one wonders whether he’s acting at... [More]

Changeling (2008) — 8/10

Angelina Jolie directed by Clint Eastwood about a woman’s struggle to find her abducted child. However, the struggle is more against a patriarchal and corrupt LA police department, who cover up their ineptitude by returning to her the wrong child and then commit her to an insane asylum when she refuses to accept that the child is hers. She was clearly suffering from “the vapors”. Dark, infuriating and very well done.

Black Dog (1998) — 4/10

Patrick Swayze is a... [More]

Fireflies in the Garden (2008) — 8/10

A decent film with a strong cast—Willem Dafoe and Ryan Reynolds are very good, with Carrie Anne Moss and Julia Roberts in smaller roles—about a family with an overbearing (asshole) patriarch (Dafoe) whose son (and wife, actually) has eluded his grasp. Think Death of a Salesman where Loman has a sadistic streak and a wicked temper instead of a pathetic air about him. Ryan Reynolds is more subdued, adapting his trademark rapier wit and coolness to the... [More]

Salt (2010) — 6/10

Angelina Jolie (or what’s left of her after what seems like an exceedingly strict diet) stars opposite Liev Schreiber as a deep-cover Soviet/Russian agent. It meanders along predictably, jolts you with a couple of neat plot twists and then ends predictably (with a mini plot-twist right at the end again). It’s a pretty uneven movie overall, with a lot of gung-ho bravado and idiocy as well as seemingly pathetic aim on the parts of the antagonists (read: police, naturally).... [More]

Goodfellas (1990) — 8/10

I finally saw this mob movie after all these years of hearing it quoted again and again and again. Though it was nice seeing the origins of the quotes, it kind of took the edge off of the surprise a bit. I don’t know what I was expecting and the film wasn’t bad, but it didn’t blow me away like The Departed. In a way, I felt like I’d already seen part of it in Blow.

Cop Out (2010) — 5/10

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, with a nice smaller part by Seann William Scott... [More]

Late December/early January are what I call “guy movie month” here because the wife is away.

Inception (2010) — 9/10

Fantastic film from start to finish with an exceedingly interesting storyline and well-put-together concept. Excellent effects, excellent cast and challenging material make for a film that you’ll want to watch again.

Zombieland (2009) — 8/10

Woody Harrelson is always entertaining, but the kid doing the Michael Cera schtick of being absolutely pathetic and neurotic got old... [More]