Taken - 8 out of 10

I'm calling this my "pleasantly surprised" movie of the year. It's not cheezy but not taking itself too seriously. Liam starts out as an over bearing Dad with some sort of past that you know was interesting but not how much. Then all hell breaks lose, he talks his daughter's kidnapper on the phone and then it's a rock and roll ride. He kicks ass and was believeable. Yeah, he's gotta be 55 but as a vengeful Dad, I wouldn't mind him to be my Dad and help me out of a dangerous situation or two. Enjoyed it very much.

bangkok dangerous - 7/10
nice action dumb ending

Watchmen - 7/10
I've yet to read the comic book to appreciate the movie. But I do enjoyed it over all. However, I feel the chick who played Silk Specter II could improve on her acting. And I can do without the Spoiler: blue penis and the sex scene on the ship--I don't like sex scenes in movies. There's porn for that.

Tsotsi (7/10)
South African film that won the Foreign Film Academy Award in 2005. It is set in a Soweto slum. I felt that the plot was standard. I didn't like how the film handled the vast disparity in wealth depicted. It was never really questioned.

You're equating movie sex scenes to porn? Don't get me wrong, some movie sex scenes do serve no other purpose, but plenty have a narrative function as well. There is much more to a relationship than sex, but it certainly plays a significant role in the human condition. To deny that is to strip a chunk of humanity from the characters and the narrative.

To address Watchmen specifically, Spoiler: the sex scene absolutely had a critical narrative function. Night Owl was impotent without his superhero persona. Silk Spectre was the same to a lesser degree. They were shells. So, they go out and act like superheros after being retired for so long, and they feel ALIVE again. The sex was a direct result of their acting like superheroes again. It wasn't just an excuse to show naked people, it rather clearly demonstrated the importance of being superheroes to the core of their being.

Also, with Watchman it's conveniently more clear that the sex scene and blue penis nudity serve a narrative function: these weren't added by the studio, but taken directly from the graphic novel. I've already addressed the sex scene, but Dr. Manhattan's lack of concern for clothing just goes to demonstrate his detachment from human society.

As they say, good storytelling shows, it doesn't tell. And Watchmen fulfills that edict quite nicely.

Yes, I do agree that it helps with the narrative. But five seconds of that stuff will suffice, imo. Guy and girl kiss, they take clothes off, scene end. Next. I don't need them to go on and on and on.

As for Dr. Manhattan, you make a good point. Obviously I missed this because I didn't read the comic book. However, Spoiler: there are plenty of scenes in the movie where he's shown with clothes on, or at least the black man-thong. Seems kind of inconsistent. Or was it because he's only doing it at the request of those government agents?

Sanjuro (9/10)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1962: A masterless, lazy samurai helps a bunch of young "wannabee" samurai clear the name of one of their clan. It stars Toshirô Mifune. He was very funny. I enjoyed the film.

Watchmen

1/5

1 because it was so good to look at

No more than 1 because the ending is such a fuck up

What A Girl Wants: 3.8/5
Complete fluff film. It stars Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth as a daughter looking for her father, respectively. It is not a deep film in anyway but was cute.

Watched two comedies the other night.

Zack and Miri make a porno 8/10
and
Role Models 7/10

I liked both movies. I do believe Z&M was a little better but it was also quite a bit cruder(is that a word? more crude? whatever..) Either way, I thought both were quality comedy movies.

Role Models 7/10
A stupid movie. It wasn't particularly creative, but I enjoyed it.


Stranger Than Paradise 9/10
Directed by Jim Jarmusch in 1984. It's my favorite film of his.

I saw Wanted, after hearing from several people that it was awesome.
Naturally, I waited till I had the opportunity to watch it in Bluray on my friend's 50 something inch TV plus sound system.
I did not like it. The whole movie had me screaming in my head at the lack of concern for physics (the bullet bending thing was ridiculous).
Everybody was being way too bad ass. Sometimes I don't need characters to always have balls the size of grapefruits all the time, even Angelina.
I know it was based on a comic book, but since I heard that the comic book's writer is satisfied with this, I probably will not read it.
Morgan Freeman has a similar personality in every movie.
The only thing that I liked was the sniper scenes. And they were somewhat possible. Bullet going in a circle trajectory, though, no thanks.
2/10. And I don't even think Jolie is that hot. Suck it, Hollywood.

---------- Post added at 05:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 PM ----------

Watched The Prestige, was excited to see what Nolan/Bale had done before Batman, and Jackman isn't a bad actor either.
I liked it a lot. It's told in a non-linear narrative, with parts that are excerpts from each magician's journal, and like a magic trick, you have to watch very closely to understand. It's probably not a bad idea to watch it twice.
And it raises some interesting questions about illusionists that are obsessed with their jobs, how far they should take it to make the crowd believe what they see is real.

Quantum of Solace 6/10
I think that I could fit all of the dialogue in the entire movie on a post-it.

Not nearly as good as the last film (and that's not saying much).

The Shawshank Redemption 8/10

I watched this movie last night. It has been quite a while since I last saw it, and I had forgotten how great this movie is! I vowed not to wait so long to watch it again.

watchmen-- loved it 10/10

Down by Law 8/10
Another Jim Jarmusch movie starring John Lurie, Tom Waits, and Roberto Benigni. It's a beautifully shot, slow film.

Religulous 8/10: This was a lot more personal than I figured it would be. It was quick which was nice.

The Incredible Hulk 7.5/10: This is the newer one with Edward Norton. It was lighter than the Dark Knight. The villian felt a little hokey.

Slumdog Millionare 8/10
I enjoyed it, maybe not the best "best picture of the year" I've seen but still quality.

Legends of the Fall 7/10

I liked it a lot until the last 3rd after Spoiler: Anthony Hopkins has a stroke and starts growling and grunting and writing things on his chalk board. It was a shame to have his character turn out that way. Everyone knows he can do better than that and it felt like such a shame.

That said, there are some magnificent moments. Brad Pitt has a strong presence throughout even if he doesn't ever seem like he's putting any effort in. But Aiden Quinn and Hopkins (before the aforementioned) are the best. They have an exchange about half way through that's particularly riveting.

When I first watched the movie 'Legends of the Fall' it made me mad that Spoiler: after all the sad and awful things that happened to all the characters, Brad Pitt's wife gets shot by a ricocheting bullet! Aaargh. At the time I thought it was ridiculous (that scene).

Duplicity 5/10

I was disappointed in the performance of Julia Roberts. Not sure what I was expecting, but she seemed to be just "going through the motions." But I refuse to say her days as an actress are done. Clive Owen seemed a little sluggish as well. Paul Giamatti...eh. He put nothing extra into it. The best performance by far was by Kathleen Chalfant. I am always intrigued by her characters. And the film? There wasn't a spark in this film. It could have been an episode of Mission Impossible. It was entertaining, but I was ready for it to end before it reached the end.

changeling 9-10,7 pounds 8-10,the day the earth stood still 6-10.

xmen origins Wolverine 7/10

good movie lots of action as origin prequels go top rate

Shoot the Piano Player 7/10
It's directed by Francois Truffaut. I like many of his movies (400 Blows, Jules et Jim, Pocket Change, Day for Night, etc.). I was really excited about the film, but it didn't meet my expectations. The plot was disjointed and incomplete. The dialogue was dull. I did like many of the visuals - important action occurring in the background of scenes, odd angles, etc. If you're interested in a Truffaut film, try some of his others first.

Duplicity: 3/10 ---completely boring. You know its not good when you're begging for it to end! I could guess the ending half an hour into the film. Blehhhh.

Quarantine: 9/10 ---Really good thriller. The tension never releases, it just builds and builds and builds. I don't think I had ever screamed or become scared during a movie before this one. Quarantine put me right on edge. Even my friends were surprised to see me freak out! The trailer doesn't do it justice. Plus, if you love Left4Dead, this movie really brings it to life. You'll see what I mean... ;)

Knowing: -/10 ---I don't even have a rating for this one. It was terrible in so many ways. Ick.

Duplicity 7.5/10; I thought it was a nice, tight little picture, in which everyone acted well and the cross/doublecross/triplecross was a pleasure to watch.

I Love You, Man 7/10; I'm a sucker for an amusing bromance, which this totally was.

Adventureland, 7.5/10; Went in thinking it was going to be a balls-out comedy a la "Superbad" based on their marketing. Was pleasantly surprised to get a wry, tender little indy flick. Very nice.

Adventureland 5.5/10

Tries to be way too many things. Not nearly as funny as you might think.

Deep Water 4.5/5

Its a documentary about Donald Crowhurst's participation in the first solo round the world boat raise.

Its hard to talk about it without giving what happens away for anyone who is going to watch it - but then again I guess if you already know who Donald Crowhurst is, you already know how it ends.

Hot Shots! - 8/10
Very funny movie. It's the same kind of humor that I appreciate from Airplane. Too bad they don't make comedies like this anymore.

Hot Fuzz 9/10: This is by the same group who made Shaun of the Dead. I didn't really understand Shaun of the Dead, it didn't appeal to me. I figured this would be in the same vein but was pleasantly surprised. It was a great film. It had a fresh premise which is great.

Bad Reputation:

Watched it on Hulu.

Absolutely horrendous.

1/10

Really really terrible.

body of lies 7-10, quarantine 5-10

That's pretty much it. The black thong is in the flashbacks and he's naked in the present. The other times he's wearing clothes is at the government's request.

I've watched a few movies in the past few days.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - 0/5. I didn't like this and don't know why I watched the entire thing. The storyline was non-existent, the acting was terrible (Kathy Bates, what were you thinking???), and the special effects weren't anything special at all. I enjoy mindless yet entertaining movies, but this movie was just mindless.

State Of Play - 3.5/5. I really like Russell Crowe, and he didn't disappoint in this movie. In fact, the acting in general was good by everyone involved. The storyline dragged at some places, but overall a pretty good thriller.

In the Electric Mist - 2.5/5. Hubby and I saw this at Blockbuster and decided to give it a shot. The story is about a cop investigating the murder of a prostitute, and it's set in the bayous of Louisiana. It has a great cast - Tommy Lee Jones, Peter Sarsgaard, John Goodman, and Mary Steenburgen. The acting was pretty good, but the story was a little slowpaced at times and jumped around too much for me. Decent flick, but nothing too exciting.

28 Days Later – 2/10.
People have been telling me for years to see 28 Days Later because it was so good and so scary. I thought we were going to find out what happened after Sandra Bullock's character had been clean for a month. I was really looking forward to seeing how her life had changed since she suddenly stopped drinking and being a druggie, because drunkards and druggies are pretty worthless and I like how they showed how drunks and druggies ruin everyone’s lives and I was hoping to see how she dealt with the lives she ruined. When everyone said it was scary, I figured they meant she'd relapse or something like that. What I saw instead sickened me.

They changed the entire cast, moved the entire location from California to England and revamped the script. Sure, the first installment with Sandra Bullock didn’t do all that well at the box office, but I get so angry when Hollywood takes what works and changes it to the point that the original story is unrecognizable.

Seriously, they replace rehab patients with zombies? What were they thinking? This movie wasn’t charming, funny, or even the least romantically inclined, except for maybe the scene in the big house where they put those nice dresses on the two female characters, but then they were mean to them.

The only reason I give this movie any rating at all is because at least it didn’t have the dumb German guy in it who was fascinated with his privates.

Sorry if I spoiled this for anyone but I just didn’t want anyone else going into this thinking they were going to see how Sandra Bullock put her life back together only to see Hollywood ruin it with a bunch of zombies.

'The Quiet' - this movie was well done (i say this because it was good enough to make me mad) but some real messed up stuff happens - 8.5/10

The Wrestler 0/10 Spoiler: I like my movies with endings. Otherwise I'd give it a 8/10

Things We Lost in The Fire - 7/10 I'm slowly becoming a big fan of Benicio Del Toro.

The Office did it.

The original, " My bloody valentine" 2/10. I like horror movies but this was just horrible.

007James Bond, I also think Ghost World is a great film. It is one of the few movies I can watch every once in a while without getting sick of it.