All the President's Men

What a beautifully done movie. Not only is this a subject that every American (heck, everyone that is interested in preserving democracy) should be interested in, it's beautifully acted and directed. The only major gripes I have are 1) Redford seems a little stiff and 2) The ending is a touch abrupt. I know this is a blur between documentary and fiction but it seems to me that there could be more closure at the end. 

Anyhow, it's still a great movie. A definite A 

Juno

What a great film. A lot of folks will go into the theatre/rent the disk with preconceptions about this movie, but I highly recommend watching it for itself. I don't know if there is a deep political message under the covers but taken at face value this is a mostly light hearted look at how a brave girl can take on one of the "worst" things that can happen to her and with the help of her friends and family come out OK.

If anything the biggest hole in this film is the fact that the folks around her are too caring and wise, but who knows, maybe a lot of folks could be this way given the chance.  Anyhow, this was a great movie about people almost all doing the right thing...at least after the forgetting a rubber part. I really enjoyed it. An A

Welcome to the Dollhouse

I'd never heard of this movie but Netflix gave it high ratings so I figured I'd give it a try. This is no light hearted teen comedy, more about how shitty Junior High School is and how hard the transition from kid to adult can be. There are plenty of funny scenes, but most make you cringe at the same time you're laughing.

The acting was good and the story rambled, a lot like someone reminiscing about the past. A decent movie, just don't look for any neat end resolution or clear roles of who's the good or bad guy. A good enough flick about growing up, especially from a girl's point of view.

I'd say B-

Blue Velvet

It's like Scooby Do on acid, but without a dog. Weird story that kind of dragged at times, but maybe I'm strange enough that the minor strangenesses in this movie (yeah, strangenesses is a word) didn't register on my radar. There was certainly some major freakage going on but for the most part it was just a semi-amature movie about how damn weird people can be. No shit, this guy should have met some of the people I knew when I flunked out of college. 

Anyhow, it was entertaining in a Donnie Darko WTF, did I just waste 2 hours watching that sort of way. I have to say I expected it to be better then it was, but it didnt live up to it's opening scene (which was much kickass). Sorry, just a C

Spiderman III

I had low expectations for this film after reading so many poor reviews but I actually enjoyed it. It did loose it's focus and tried to be too many things and ended up being ill defined, but as far as an action movie with lots of eye candy it did a good job. My main gripe is we know the characters too well to have them fit in with the stuff that happened in the movie, people's actions swung so wildely that literally anything could happen, so all the character's cohesion was lost, not to mention Peter Parker and MJ both acted so much like jerks you gave up caring about them.

Even so it was not that bad of a movie. I enjoyed the CGI stuff and if it was not for the fact that we are all (over) familiar with the backstory it would have been a good B grade. This would have been better with superheroes we don't already know the backstory of, as it is I don't think it quite made it, so I'm saying a B-, or a C if you are a big Spidey fan.

Se7en

I liked this movie a lot. Brad Pitt and  Gweneth Paltrow are actually kind of bland characters. Not really their fault (although Pitt's first scene is flat for someone of his talents), the script makes them rather vanilla, but Morgan Freedman and Kevin Spacey are both superb, the script is interesting and the ending well done. I also am proud of myself for getting the clues from the start. Apparently I'm smarter then Brad Pitt and Morgan Freedman combined. Maybe I should become a detective. 

Anyways, it was a decent movie. Not great but quite good. Right on the border of a B+/A-

The Deer Hunter

Made while Vietnam was still a taboo subject in Hollywood this movie is more about the depths of depravity and the extent friendship can push us then any political statement about the war itself. It could have been set in any war, so it's odd that after hearing about how it's a Vietnam movie over and over I see it and it could be any time where the world is in flux enough that how fragile the lives we live are  gets pushed into the spotlight.

De Niro is fantastic, as is Christopher Walken. If you ever thought that Walken was just a hack who did odd villans in B movies this will be an eye opener for you. This really is an incredible movie, although not always easy to watch. 

A true A+ film.

Superbad

What a great movie. On an enjoyment level I give this top grade. In some respects I was these guys, but I think that's true for most guys in High School. I do have a few gripes. Anyone female in this movie is pretty much reduced to a vagina with legs, but since it's from the viewpoint of a 17 year old male I guess that's pretty accurate. The acting is excellent, the plot is well worn but instead of feeling rehashed it just feels comfortable. To me the one central theme of this movie is we're all as cool as we let ourselves be. Too often (especially in High School) we focus on who we aren't, when really it's who we are that makes us pretty much all awesome in one way or another.

Great movie, really enjoyable, definately an A

Orgazmo

This movie was not as funny as some of the South Park episodes. There where moments I chuckled, but over all it was just another B comedy.

Don't go out of your way to watch it, but it's probably worth seeing if you like raunchy humor, have a thing for Mormons or like to watch people running around with dildos stuck to their head.

C

Stardust

I've been a Neil Gaiman fan for quite a while. Not only does he do excellent novels but also has written the excellent Sandman series of graphic novels. I enjoyed the book when I read it and have looked forward to seeing Stardust for quite a while. One of the things that puzzled me was all the buzz around Robert De Niro's performance. To me, after recently watching Taxi Driver this was a real treat. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but let me just say he looks dashing.

This movie was no classic, but it was a cute movie with solid acting  a decent riff on the novel's story and some nice looking special effects. My 5 year old wanted to watch Spongebob but the 9 year old really enjoyed it and asked some interesting questions afterwards (like where the witches based on specific elements).

I'd give it a solid B.