Sin City

This was a dark movie about bad people doing really bad things to even worse people. Don't look for knights in shining armor, although generally the protagonist has a solid reason for his actions. Generally fast paced, this film is a series of short stories all set in the same city but never really intersect. I really enjoyed it, if you saw 300 and thought it was meh (I figure it's a B- at best) this is much better.

A-, would be higher but I enjoy longer stories, or at least an over arcing story line. I think it would also have been better to split Bruce Willis's story so the time he spent in prison was the break, not the death.  Oh well.Publish Post

Mallrats

This a great movie about only the interesting part of pretty much normal people's lives. Really it's what Kevin Smith does very well; presenting the lives of the folks on the cusp of adulthood but not so sure they want to "grow up".  This was the extended edition, but desipte the director's warning aside from some weird bumps in the film it was worth the extra time. I am sure editing it would have made for a tighter movie, but no one watches Kevin Smith for that style of directing. Ambling around a mall with him seems just fine.

A-

Renaissance

This film is a great example of using animation to do things that would be prohibitive or impossible in a live action film. The artists vary the resolution of the different scenes to emphasize action and the use of color has a very specific meaning. With a deep theme this movie will really make you question something we all take for granted. Lots of action but really it's a drama over all I recommend it if your in the mode for something artsy.

I give it an A-, really solid film overall.

Face/Off

My biggest single problem with this movie is that I had to stare at John Travolta and Nicholas Cage the whole movie. They did a pretty good job but there is some quality that they both have in common that constantly irks me, so my views on this film are probably somewhat irrational. The action schenes where pretty good but didnt even pay lip service to reality. If your going to ignore the laws of physics at least take advantage of it. The other thing that bothered me was it got kind of smaltzy at times. Oh well.

Still a solid action film. Entertaining if you at least like the genre, I'd say a B film. Certainly worth the time if you feel like watching stuff blow up.

Speedracer

So this movie was more of a homage to the original, although it has a signifigant re-write (well, it takes liberties anyways), but it's kind of cool the way they did it. I don't think I've ever watched the original cartoon all the way through, but I'm familiar with the basic premise (complex it is not). The race scenes are genius, the rest smaltz.

I'd say it's a B-, if they could have taken maybe 15% out and erased the geeky dude that never had a full shirt it would have been an A-, sorry W brothers, this is nothing like the original Matrix or even V. Not too bad for a movie you can watch with your kids though.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Despite it's rather slow start (and the fact that the main character is not really that likeable, at least not at first) this is a a powerful film that just builds steam as it progresses. It's certainly not an easy story and if you only like action movies then this is probably not for you. Otherwise this is a fantastic picture. The sparse landscapes, difficult visuals and slow pace give you the tiniest glimpse of what it must be like to communicate through such a cumbersome processes and the longer you watch the more you can sympathize with the main character. I can see why this was such a sensation when it came out. Just be aware that it's very slow paced, especially at the start.

A definate A film.

Goodfellas

This is Scorsese's masterpiece as far as I am concerned. I both enjoyed this movie as entertainment and it made me think. Basically it's the story of a reasonably charismatic guy who has no other redeeming qualities. It's like an advertisement for the mob life, but only would look good to someone who really would enjoy living as a parasite on society, his leech friends and no so intelligent wife. The movie is not one I'd recommend to my mom (according to IMDB they say "fuck" more then once a minute) and it's quite violent, but the true interest in this film is the fact that it's closely based on how things really work. It tells the same story as the (much uglier and not nearly as sympathetic) movie on 50cent's life 'Get Rich or Die Tryin', this film does make you understand how a kid could slip into this life. The acting is superb, the cinematography incredible (be sure to pay attention to the shot where he enters the club with his wife-to-be for the first time) and the story as well known ahead of time as a greek tragedy, except he basically has the best of all possible endings, which is not all that great.

Anyways, an excellent movie. I never though I'd find a film that was as good as the Godfather in this genre but this truely is. I wondered what the hubub around Departed ( a decent film but nothing we've not seen over and over before) was, this is it. If you liked Departed but have not see Goodfellas you need to see it, right now.

A+